The NYSIF Century

The NYSIF Century

Andrew M. Cuomo, GovernorNew York State Insurance Fund

Kenneth R. Theobalds, Chairman Eric Madoff, Executive Director

The NYSIF CenturyThe NYSIF Century

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Table of Contents

6Origins

“They did not die in vain, and we willnever forget them.”

11The NYSIF Century“The spirit of the State Insurance Fundalways has been and always will be the

Spirit of Service.”

48NYSIF People

“Like all great institutions, it’s thepeople who make NYSIF special.”

Messages 1

Commissioners 4

NYSIF Today 10

An Inspiring Talk and HorseSense 13

Fathers of State Fund 14

‘Ms. State Fund’ 16

The Insurer That Cares 17

The War Years 20

NYSIF’s Edifice 22

Partners In Safety 27

A Public Service 28

Information Technology 30

ConfidentialInvestigations 36

Safety Groups 46

Why Like NYSIF? 60

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The NYSIF Century is a 2014 publication of the New York State Insurance Fund: Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor; Kenneth R. Theobalds, Chairman; Eric Madoff,Executive Director. Produced by the Media & Publications Office, 199 Church Street, New York, NY, 10007. John Mesagno, Editor-in-Chief; Media & Publicationsstaff: Guillermo Blanco, Gayle Fullerton, Linda Grant, Lee Harris, Michele Sisak, Emanuel Terrell. Also available at nysif.com in digital format. All rights reserved.

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From the Governor

The StateInsurance Fundhas operatedcontinuously since1914, coveringmore employers,claimants andbeneficiaries thanany other workers’compensationinsurance carrierin New YorkState – aremarkable recordof consistency.

C ongratulations to the New York State Insurance Fund on its 100th

anniversary.

Since 1914, the Fund has been a pioneer in workers’ compensation insurancein America and has supplied uninterrupted insurance for more employers,claimants and beneficiaries than any other workers’ compensation carrier inNew York State. Today, the Fund maintains its remarkable record of consistencyas a leading writer of workers’ compensation insurance.

For 100 years, NYSIF has served as a safety net for employers to cover workersagainst the unexpected hardship of on-the-job injury and illness. More than acentury ago, the Triangle Shirtwaist fire graphically illustrated the harsh realityof workplace accidents. Voters responded by passing a constitutional amend-ment establishing the New York Workers’ Compensation Law and the State In-surance Fund.

NYSIF issued its first policy on July 1, 1914, the day the law took effect. Sincethen, it has fulfilled its mission as a guaranteed source of insurance for any em-ployer seeking coverage in New York. Over the years, NYSIF has covered hun-dreds of thousands of New York businesses and provided security for millionsof workers and their families.

In 1949, the safety net was extended with the passage the New York State Dis-ability Benefits Law to cover off-the-job accidents and sickness. Again, NYSIFbegan writing disability benefits insurance policies from the day the law tookeffect on July 1, 1950.

During all this time, NYSIF has provided the guaranteed security of a just ben-efit for workers while focusing on the needs of employers and employees. Thishelps strengthen local economies by leading to smarter, safer, healthier and moreproductive workplaces.

NYSIF has sustained this record of success with strong leadership, sound fiscalmanagement and a pioneering spirit. As a not-for-profit New York State agencyoperating in the open market, it has met New York’s needs for workers’ com-pensation and disability benefits insurance without fail.

Congratulations again, NYSIF. Long may you serve the needs of futuregenerations of New Yorkers.

Sincerely,Andrew M. Cuomo

Governor

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From the ChairmanB efore July 1, 1914, injured workers and their families had little recourse

against the ravages of workplace accidents that led to lost wages andlivelihoods. While the 1909 Commission on Employers’ Liability made thisabundantly clear, the grim events of March 25, 1911, and the fate that befellvictims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire and their survivors made itpainfully obvious.

The Workmen’s Compensation Act of 1914 established the State InsuranceFund to ensure that the compensatory pitfalls which followed the Triangle Shirt-waist fire were never repeated. The Fund wrote its first policy on July 1, 1914,and has written many others throughout its 100-year history.

Originally limited to specific hazardous occupations, the New York Workers’Compensation Law now covers virtually every job and every worker in the state.The New York State Legislature created the State Insurance Fund as a not-for-profit state agency to offer insurance rates at the lowest possible cost. Equallyimportant, NYSIF was established as a competitive insurance carrier to providea stable market, which allows it to fulfill its mandate to write insurance any timefor any business in New York, regardless of risk.

That blueprint has stood the test of time. As a result, the workers’ compensationand disability benefits insurance market remains highly competitive today,which benefits all employers and employees in New York State.

This enables NYSIF to issue discounts and dividends for policyholders even inthe most dire of economic conditions. At the same time, NYSIF has provided in-surance for industries unable to find adequate coverage elsewhere, risks that in-clude construction, building demolition, asbestos abatement, window cleaningoperations, roofing, scrap metal companies, thoroughbred racing, livery drivers,and a variety of exposures to airborne dust diseases and occupational hearing loss.

We have come a long way in 100 years. Through two world wars, the GreatDepression, multiple recessions and the nation’s worst terrorist attack, our com-mitment to serving employers and the people of New York State has never wa-vered. I would like to thank Governor Cuomo, the Board of Commissioners,NYSIF Executive Management and the entire staff of the State Insurance Fundfor their support. Best wishes to NYSIF on a momentous anniversary.

Sincerely,Kenneth R. TheobaldsChairman

NYSIF wascreated as anot-for-profitagency and,equallyimportant, as acompetitivecarrier to providea stable marketfor any businessin New York.


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T he New York State Insurance Fund observes its 100th anniversary of con-tinuous service to New York businesses and their employees in 2014.

Borne from a galvanizing moment in American labor history – the TriangleShirtwaist Company fire in New York City – the State Insurance Fund began asan integral part of one of the first workers’ compensation statutes in the UnitedStates. In the years following the devastating fire, almost every jurisdiction inthe nation followed New York’s pioneering lead, patterning their legislationsafter the New York model.

NYSIF is the sixth largest writer of workers’ compensation insurance in Amer-ica and is the leading workers’ compensation carrier in New York with morethan $2.2 billion in earned premiums in 2013. NYSIF covers approximately166,000 policyholders and their employees against injuries and illnesses sus-tained on and off the job by providing a stable source of workers’ compensationand disability benefits insurance for New York employers.

Five businesses that took policies with the Fund in 1914 remain policyholderstoday and thousands have been customers for 50 years or more. NYSIF is notmerely the residual carrier for New York, but is a competitive carrier that offersquality products and services, and a choice for insurance for many businesses.

The Fund continues to keep up with changing times while staying true to a mis-sion and a commitment that began 100 years ago. NYSIF makes timely and ap-propriate claims payments, helps claimants return to work when possible, andworks with policyholders to maintain safe, healthy workplaces in which em-ployees and employers can thrive.

We dedicate this 100th anniversary commemorative to everyone who has had astake in the success of this organization. This list includes our leadership in thestate of New York – past and present – Governor Cuomo, the Board of Com-missioners, executives and managers who have nurtured and led this agency,the dedicated men and women who have staffed it, and the employers and em-ployees for whom NYSIF was created.

Sincerely,Eric Madoff

Executive Director

We have stayedfaithful to ourmandate and acommitment thatbegan 100 yearsago. We dedicatethis 100thanniversarycommemorativeto everyone whohas had a stake inthe success of thisorganization.

From the Executive Director


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Board of

Commissioners

ChairmanKenneth R. TheobaldsVice President, Government & Regulatory AffairsEntergy (second from left)

Vice ChairmanBarry SwidlerChief Executive Officer,Long Island Carpet Cleaners, Inc. (left)

Eileen A. FrankPresident,J.P. West, Inc. (center)

New York State Insurance Fund Board of Commissioners 2014

David E. OurlichtManaging DirectorGAMCO Asset Management (second from right)

Joseph CanovasNew York AFL-CIO (right)

Peter M. Rivera (ex-officio)CommissionerNew York State Departmentof Labor


Robert E. Dowling 1914–1915

John Mitchell 1916–1919

Edward F. Boyle 1920

Henry D. Sayer 1921–1922

Bernard L. Shientag 1923–1924

James A. Hamilton 1924-1927

Frances Perkins 1929–1933

Elmer F. Andrews 1933–1937

John E. Connelly 1938–1944

William F. Fanning 1945–1955

Thomas P. Lynch 1955–1959

Harold V. Gleason 1973–1977

Martin A. Fischer 1977–1995

Charles G. Moerdler 1995–1997

Terence L. Morris 1997–2006

Robert H. Hurlbut 2006–2012

Donald T. DeCarlo 2012

H. Sidney Holmes, III (acting) 2012–2013

Kenneth R. Theobalds 2014

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F. Spencer Baldwin 1914–1920

L.W. Hatch 1920–1924

C. Gordon Smith 1925–1938

Lt. Col. Nicholas W. Muller 1938–1943

Edward J. Powers 1945–1949

William B. Folger 1950–1967

James J. Carroll 1967–1972

Albert J. Millus 1972–1978

Arnold Kideckel 1978–1987

Salvatore Curiale 1987–1990

Cecilia E. Norat 1990–1996

H. Neal Conolly 1997–2001

Kenneth J. Ross 2001–2005

David P. Wehner 2006–2009

James J. Wrynn 2009

Francine James 2009–2011

Dennis J. Hayes 2011–2013

Eric Madoff 2014

The Workmen’s Compensation Commission had oversight for NYSIF in 1914. From 1915-1937, the New York Industrial Commissionhad oversight for NYSIF. In 1938, NYSIF was reorganized under a separate, independent Board of Commissioners.

Commission Chairs Chief Executives

1959–1973


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‘They did not diein vain; we willnever forget them.’

Firefighters battled a deadly blaze at the Asch Buildingin Greenwich Village, housing the Triangle ShirtwaistCompany at Greene Street and Washington Place, NYC,March 25, 1911.


When Gov. FranklinD. Roosevelt namedFrances Perkins as NewYork’s first woman in-dustrial commissioner in1929, she also becamethe top state official ofthe New York State In-surance Fund. She re-mained in that role until1933 when then-President Roosevelt picked her to become thenation’s first woman cabinet member as Labor Secretary.

Ms. Perkins developed an interest in social change at anearly age, beginning in 1898 at Mt. Holyoke College. Afterobserving factory life during field trips to nearby mills sheconcluded, “Avoiding poverty was not a question simply ofliquor or laziness, but also of safety devices on machines.”

Among her first assignments as a volunteer for the settle-ment house Chicago Commons in 1904, she collected over-due wages for “bundle women” who worked in tenementhouses for the clothing industry. On March 25, 1911, fateplaced her one block from the scene of the Triangle Shirtwaistfire. She rushed to the site to witness the carnage, an imagethat influenced all of her subsequent labor reforms.

The fire led to the creation of the Factory InvestigationCommission three months later. Ms. Perkins and the com-mittee of legislators and reformers – chaired by SenatorRobert F. Wagner, Sr., and co-chaired by Assemblyman Al-fred E. Smith – toured factories across the state. Ms. Perkinsrecounted how, at one site, “We made sure Robert Wagnerpersonally crawled through the tiny hole in the wall that gaveexit to a step ladder covered with ice and ending 12 feet fromthe ground, which was euphemistically labeled Fire Escape.”

As industrial commissioner, Ms. Perkins had administra-tive control over the Advisory Committee of the New YorkState Insurance Fund and took an avid interest in its operationand its staff. Her dedication never faltered, as the relationshipcontinued even after her appointment to Washington. She re-ceived updates about the Fund’s progress and took the timeto write back.

She also never let go of the memory of the 146 Trianglevictims who perished in the blaze. At the fire’s 50th memorialobservance in 1961, Ms. Perkins said, “They did not die invain, and we will never forget them.”

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A Fire atQuitting Time

M ost of us are aware that the Triangle Shirtwaistfire served as a catalyst for numerous reforms

and the eventual creation of NYSIF. For me, the con-nection is more personal.

In 1911, my grandfather, Lawrence Golden, was a27-year-old NYC firefighter with four years on thejob. He was assigned to a firehouse on 13th Street inlower Manhattan. On Saturday, March 25, he re-sponded to a fire in a loft building on the comer ofGreene Street and Washington Place.

The fire was reported at 4:45 p.m. The blaze startedin a pile of discarded fabric and spread rapidly, as 500employees of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company wereabout to leave for the day. When my grandfather ar-rived, employees on the eighth floor had alreadybegun jumping to the street to avoid being burned todeath. The fire was under control in approximately 18minutes and was all but out in under half an hour, butthere was still a great deal of devastation. On that day146 employees died and scores were injured. Mostwere young, foreign born and female and 65 victimsopted to jump to try to save themselves. The rest weretrapped inside due to blocked exits, locked doors andan inadequate fire escape.

My grandfather was the kind of man who enjoyedtelling a good story. Many of his accounts involvedhis 20 years as a firefighter but he had difficulty talk-ing about this fire. He described the falling bodies –some already afire – or how he worked late into thenight searching for victims in the rubble on the eighth,ninth and 10th floors.

Unsafe conditions and unfair labor practices had aprofound effect on my grandfather. Later in his career,he became a founding member of the NYC FirefightersAssociation. He taught us about fire safety, and sincethen, I always look for exits in unfamiliar buildings.

Any time anyone needs a little dose of history, or areminder of why NYSIF came into existence, go to theNYU campus. The Asch Building (now the BrownBuilding) is still there. The outside is essentially un-changed since 1911. Every March 25th, a ceremony hon-ors those who lost their lives and, in turn, made workingconditions safer for all of us. I would like to think thatmen like my grandfather made a difference, too.

– Martha Golden, NYSIF Claims Manager

LaborIcon,NYSIFChair

Frances Perkins’ portrait at theU.S. Department of Labor, whereshe served longer than any otherLabor Secretary, 1933-1945.


T he Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in NYC is oftencited as a defining moment in labor history, modern in-

dustrial safety and progressive insurance legislation, leadingto the workers’ compensation system in New York and thecreation of NYSIF. The tragedy remains one of the mostdeadly workplace accidents in North America – 146 workersdied and many were injured.

The New York State Department of Labor’s Apparel Indus-try Task Force annually dedicates their enforcement effortsin memory of the Triangle fire. A plaque commemorates thevictims at the site, where the building still stands and a me-morial observance takes place each year.

From Kate Leone, 14, to Provindenza Panno, 43, the rosterof Triangle’s dead is comprised of mostly young women andmen who toiled to eke out a life for themselves. Instead, theirburned bodies were laid to rest decades too soon.

On March 25, 1911, a combination of labor and social con-ditions, managerial mindset and building design coalescedinto a brief, deadly inferno on a late Saturday afternoon. Thefactory in the Asch Building at Greene Street and WashingtonPlace had a high concentration of flammables, narrow aislesand locked exits – barring union organizers and detainingdistrusted workers – in a structure built to withstand fire, butlacking adequate fire escapes.

Triangle employees worked on the eighth, ninth and 10th

floors of the building. Rescue ladders that did not reach be-yond six stories forced agonizing decisions – face the fire orjump. Some vainly hoped that the plunge was survivable butwithin minutes, scores of innocent workers perished.

Graphic descriptions of the carnage were recounted innews stories and interviews with survivors and witnesses.Newspaper reporter William Shepard wrote, “I learned...amore horrible sound than description can picture. It was thethud of a speeding, living body on a stone sidewalk.”

The ensuing shock and sympathy reached across New Yorkand the nation, leading to investigations and reforms, newbuilding and labor laws, and work safety rules and regula-tions. Remembering the fire before her death in 2001 at age107, Rose Freedman, the last survivor, told an interviewer:“I don’t pretend. I feel it. Still.” She had become a lifelongcrusader for labor reform, recounting the fate of her Triangleco-workers at every opportunity.

Injured survivors and families of the victims received noworkers’ compensation benefits. Just one day earlier, a courthad found New York State’s first workers’ compensation lawunconstitutional. However, that decision, in Ives vs. SouthBuffalo Railway, could not withstand the energies of the pro-gressive movement, coupled with practical politicians and

Mournful scenes such as this, labeled ‘Bodies from WashingtonPlace Fire 3/25/11,’ led to a constitutional amendment, Article 1§19, that established the Workmen’s Compensation Act of 1914.

‘I don’t pretend. I feel it. Still.’

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»

Voters remembered shocking headlines, as in theEvening Journal of Tuesday, March 28, 1911, andgrim images (below) when, on November 4, 1913,they passed a referendum to amend the state constitution,ratifying enactment of a compulsory workers’ compensationlaw in New York. Three years earlier, the New York State Legislature enacted the first compulsory workers’ compensation law in the nation, only to have it declared unconstitutional by the state Court ofAppeals. Described in a book about workers’ compensation law by former State Fund Executive Director Albert Millus, “the judicial, if not judicious,invalidation of the act” came one day before the Triangle Shirtwaist fire.


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the public’s outrage at hazardous, substandard work-ing conditions.

The awful fire opened eyes to the substandard workingconditions and safety issues prevalent in New York’s sweat-shops. A Factory Investigation Commission made numerousvisits to work sites, held hearings, and in 1912, issued ascathing preliminary report. The chief investigator – the zeal-ous labor reformer Frances Perkins – was an eyewitness tothe fire and dedicated herself to meeting the demands formeaningful answers for victims and enforcing means of ac-cident prevention. One key witness, NYFD Chief EdwardCroker, stated that building codes perpetuated structures thatwould not burn, but provided inadequate protection for oc-cupants. Croker’s book, Fire Prevention, advocated drills andemergency preparation as a means to prevent such tragedies.

Ultimately, the Triangle legacy included improved workingconditions, wage and child labor laws, and fireproof build-ings that protect life as well as property. One reform: “panicbar” locks on outward-swinging exit doors are now corner-stones of building and life safety codes. This lock, availablesince about 1904, could have limited the tragedy and savedmany lives.

In three years, public opinion and political wrangling ledto an amended state constitution and acceptance of no-faultworkers’ compensation insurance. Even after 100 years,workplace injuries or fatalities sometimes evoke the memoryof the Triangle fire.

– Gary Dombroff, NYSIF Principal Field Services Rep

Need to Be Ever WatchfulUnfortunately, the 21st Century still has its share of unsafe

working conditions, wage violations and uninsured workers.On November 24, 2012, a devastating fire swept through

a Bangladesh garment factory, killing more than 100 workersand injuring many more, and evoking comparisons to theShirtwaist tragedy.

Federal standards require that employees be able to openan exit route door from inside at all times, without keys, toolsor special knowledge. Yet, recent examples of basic safetyviolations exist, including:

• A women’s apparel chain cited for exit access, electricalhazards and un-mounted fire extinguishers at a Brooklynstore;

• A Brooklyn supermarket cited for allegedly locking nightshift workers inside the building and not allowing them toleave without permission;

• Locked and unmarked exit doors, obstructed exit routesand non-functioning emergency lighting among alleged vio-lations by an upstate firearms manufacturer; and

• One investigation that found garment manufacturersowing more than $5 million in workers’ wages, including ex-tensive violations by a Long Island City garment contractor.

History of New YorkWorkers’ Comp. Law

Adapted from NYS Workers’ Compensation Board archives.

B efore enactment of theWorkers’ Compensation

Law, an injured worker’s onlyremedy was to sue in court. Towin, a worker had to overcomethree defenses used by employers:the worker knew the risk of thejob; the injury resulted from theworker’s negligence; or the injurywas caused by the negligence of aco-worker.

Crowded court calendars de-layed hearings for years. Once acase began, the injured worker paid all court costs. Of thecompensation recovered, if any, up to 50% could go tolegal fees in addition to medical costs.

In 1909, the State Legislature created a Commission onEmployers’ Liability (commonly called the WainwrightCommission after its chair) to examine the law regardingemployers’ liability and the system of compensation for in-dustrial accidents in New York State. Finding the currentlaw dreadfully inadequate and completely unsatisfactory,the commission’s investigation was a defining event in theAmerican workers’ compensation movement.

These findings led to two statutes enacted on June 25,1910, a compulsory act fixing liability upon the employerin eight “especially dangerous” employments and a volun-tary act covering other occupations. Both failed. The com-pulsory act was declared unconstitutional on March 24,1911, and the voluntary one proved inconsequential.Twenty-four hours later, everything changed. The TriangleShirtwaist tragedy was a harsh awakening, and on Novem-ber 4, 1913, voters adopted a compulsory workers’ com-pensation act by popular referendum. The act, effectiveJuly 1, 1914, created a new system, including the Workers’Compensation Board and the State Insurance Fund.

Later expanded, the act appliedto specific hazardous occupa-tions, listing 42 groups and sev-eral hundred employments. Thefirst claim came on the law’s firstday when William Althen fellfrom the Equitable Building inManhattan. His widow collectedcompensation benefits until herdeath 81 years later.

New York’s first compensation claim was not a NYSIF case.

State Senator J. MayhewWainwright


T he days when NYSIF field staff set out in horse and buggy to visit policyholdersin the outer reaches of New York State have long since passed.

In 1914, payroll auditors were the State Insurance Fund’s first representatives,traveling from New York City to wherever NYSIF sent them. They stayed on theroad for months at a time, auditing payrolls, writing new business, handling claimsand providing any other service required. A historical account of NYSIF’s organ-ization during its early years refers to “branch offices” as consisting of one ste-nographer and one other staff member.

Much has changed since then. In the ensuing years, NYSIF grew to become afull-service workers’ compensation insurance carrier, adding disability benefitsinsurance to its product line in 1950. NYSIF became the number one writer ofworkers’ compensation insurance in New York State by 1928 and annually in-sures one-third or more of the market. Yearly premium exceeded $1 billion bythe 21st Century. In 2013, with more than $2 billion in premium, NYSIF wasthe sixth largest workers’ compensation insurance writer in the nation.

Today, NYSIF’s staff of approximately 2,500 full-time employees operates 12 businessoffices covering every region of the state. The workforce is made up of claims and fieldservices reps, underwriters, hearing reps, actuaries and payroll auditors. Departments in-cluding Customer Service, Information Technology, Investments, Budget and Finance,Internal Audit, Confidential Investigations, Legal, and Communications complement ateam of workers’ compensation and disability benefits specialists that draws on 100 yearsof cumulative knowledge and experience.

In 2014, most policyholders can report their own payroll to NYSIF using our websitedeveloped and designed entirely by NYSIF staff. In addition to payroll reporting,nysif.com features online services that allow customers to obtain insurance quotes, reportand track claims, submit medical reports, check the status of a benefit check or medicalpayment, receive benefit payments electronically, access hundreds of safety and risk man-agement resources, pay their premiums, and create, validate and print certificates of in-surance.

The concept of “state insurance” was a foreign idea when NYSIF set out to be a self-sufficient insurance carrier serving employers and employees across the cities and townsof New York. Along the way, NYSIF emerged as a reliable, stable and service-oriented in-surer, and presently covers hundreds of thousands of businesses and millions of workers.

NYSIF Today

NYSIF wrote many policies for NewYork businesses on July 1, 1914. Thisone was recorded as the first, writtenfor the former American ManufacturingCompany of Brooklyn, established as amanufacturer of rope and bagging in1890. Workers turned hemp, jute andother fibers into miles of rope andtwine, essential at the time in almost allaspects of shipping and critically im-portant to the American economy.NYSIF provided them, their familiesand employers a guaranteed source ofworkers’ compensation insurance pro-

tection against thehardship of workplaceinjuries.

nysif.com

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The NYSIF Century

Workmen’s compensation legislation was firstenacted in Germany in the late 19th Century.

The majority of industrialized Europe would soonemulate those efforts by the turn of the century.The industrial revolution began earlier in WesternEurope than it did in the United States. America’searly attempts at limited workmen’s compensationstatutes, including those of Maryland (1902) andMontana (1909), were deemed unconstitutional. At-tempts by Maryland again (1908) and Massachusetts(1910) to enable voluntary arrangements between employersand employees were largely ineffective. Wisconsin, mean-while, enacted the first comprehensive workers’ compensa-tion law in America on May 3, 1911.

In 1909, the New York State Legislature organized a Com-mission on Employers’ Liability chaired by State Senator J.Mayhew Wainwright to investigate employers’ liability lawsregarding industrial accidents in New York. The Wainwrightcommission was asked to compare the “efficiency, cost, jus-tice, merits and defects of the laws in other industrial statesand countries relative to the same subject, and as to thecauses of accidents to employees.”

Commission FindingsIt took 11 public hearings and many investigations of cases

involving work related injuries or deaths in Erie and NewYork counties for the commission to determine that NewYork State employer liability laws were entirely insufficientand compensation woefully inadequate.

In Erie County, the findings showed that when a marriedworker died on the job, the family of the deceased receivedless than five hundred dollars 71% of the time and in 37%of such cases, they received nothing. Manhattan cases

showed similar findings. Average annual earningsfor workers in the study were $791, and a large partof the amount recovered would have been used forlegal fees. The findings regarding serious work-re-lated injuries were no more encouraging.

Delays and wastefulness in the legal process wereanother issue. A long and expensive lawsuit placed

an incredible strain on the families of workers whocould not afford such expenses, often resulting in injured

workers settling out of court for far less than they deserved.The report also found the existing process resulted in tremen-dous animosity between employers and their workers, whichbenefitted no one. The Wainwright Commission made it clearthat serious legislative changes were necessary.

First ActOn June 25, 1910, New York passed the first comprehen-

sive Workmen’s Compensation Act in the nation. The actprovided for two statutes. The first, a compulsory law, re-quired that in eight especially dangerous jobs employers pro-vide coverage to their workers for injuries “arising out of andin the course of employment.” The second statute attemptedto provide coverage for workers outside these eight job clas-sifications by sanctioning voluntary agreements between em-ployers and employees, similar in nature to the arrangementsprovided by the compulsory statute.

Predictably, many employers were unwilling to incur anunnecessary expense, making the voluntary statute entirelyineffective. The compulsory statute was declared unconsti-tutional in Ives vs. South Buffalo Railway. Essentially, thecourt ruled that the statute took capital and property fromemployers while denying them due process of law.

Above: State Insurance Fund shield (199 Church St., NY, NY).

There is an enduring spirit, born of an ideal, that vitalizes every successfulorganization...That spirit, in the State Insurance Fund, always has been, is, andalways will be, the Spirit of Service...The history of the State Fund and itscontinued success can be interpreted best in the light of that spirit. It was in thisspirit of service that employees worked day and night when the Fund was young...regardless of hours, often not seeing their homes for days at a time. They keptfaith with policyholders, their employees and the public. In the same spirit, theState Fund today keeps the faith.

»

Major Nicholas W. Muller, 1939 NYSIF annual report


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1911

Twist of FateThe events of the following day, Saturday, March 25, 1911,

proved to be a cruel and ironic twist of fate. That afternoon,a spark in a heap of scrap cloth escalated into one of the mostdeadly and significant fires in American history. The blazeclaimed the lives of 146 employees of the Triangle ShirtwaistCompany in NYC, mostly young immigrant women. The fireoccurred on the top three floors of the Asch Building. Firetruck ladders extended only to the sixth floor and could notreach the victims. The building’s fire escape ladder was notadequate to handle the crisis and collapsed during the fire.Only one exit on each of the floors was left unlocked, a com-monplace practice intended to prevent theft by employeesand for which owners Max Blank and Isaac Harris wereeventually brought to trial. Both were acquitted. In 1913,they settled 23 individual civil suits, pay-ing $75 for each life lost to the families ofthe victims.

The tragedy shocked people in NewYork State and the nation, focusing newattention on the plight of American work-ers toiling under unsafe and inhumaneworking conditions. Public outrage overthe fire and the acquittal of the owners al-lowed New York lawmakers to remake thecase for workers’ compensation, despitethe fact that the workers who died in thefire would not have been covered by the1910 Workmen’s Compensation Act.

New LegislationThe State Legislature proposed a public

referendum for an amendment to the stateconstitution in order to avoid further prob-lems regarding the constitutionality of anew statute. The amendment passed on November 4, 1913,and the Legislature enacted the compulsory Workmen’sCompensation Act of 1914, effective July 1. The new act wassimilar to the 1910 act in that it covered specific hazardousoccupations but was significantly broader than its predeces-sor. Under the new law, employers could insure with privatecarriers, self-insure or obtain coverage from the newly cre-ated State Insurance Fund. The Legislature justified the cre-ation of the Fund on the grounds that the cost of insurancewould ultimately be borne by consumers, so the not-for-profitState Fund would provide this coverage at the lowest possible

cost. The Legislature also foresaw that the act’s compulsorynature required a state carrier that would always make cover-age available to employers.

Early ChallengeDr. Foy Spencer Baldwin, who served as the State Fund’s

first manager, oversaw the Fund’s formative years. In June1914, a small group of people assembled in the MetropolitanLife Insurance Company at 24th Street and Madison Avenue,headed by Dr. Baldwin. These first State Fund employees re-alized they would be carefully scrutinized to find out whetheror not civil service employees could run an insurance com-pany. They lived up to the task, offering their wholeheartedsupport to the success of the Fund. Within six months of itscreation, the Fund had 7,125 policyholders and premiums of$645,154.02.

The Workmen’s Compensation Com-mission originally controlled the Fund,giving way to the Industrial Commissionin 1915. An amendment to the Workmen’sCompensation Law the same year pro-vided improvements in the claims process,including allowing for direct payments toinjured workers from employers or theirinsurers.

NYSIF provided insurance to employ-ers who were denied coverage due to thenature of their risk by the private sector.However, it was not conceived simply totake up the slack left by private insurers,but rather to be a competitive fund thatwould provide market stability. In its firstyear, the Fund faced spirited oppositionfrom private competitors. The Aetna LifeInsurance Company challenged NYSIF’s

right to compete in a letter to Governor Charles S. Whitmanin 1915. Confident in a rebuttal supplied by Dr. Baldwin,Gov. Whitman dismissed the challenge and reaffirmed theFund’s status as a competitive carrier. The Industrial Com-mission reiterated his decision in its 1915 annual report.Through the years, similar challenges to the Fund’s right tocompete have been unsuccessful.

Several amendments to the law in 1916 directly affectedthe Fund. Coverage was broadened to encompass employ-

An inspector points to a locked exit contributingto the deaths of 146 workers in the TriangleShirtwaist factory fire in NYC, now a nationallandmark. The blaze led to the Workmen’sCompensation Act of 1914, creating NYSIF.

‘If NYSIF is to [serve]policyholders and ... thepeople of the state, it mustdo a sufficiently largebusiness to guaranteeits safety and serve as auseful check upon ratesdemanded by the stockcompanies.’

1915 Industrial CommissionAnnual Report

Continued on page 15


Voters pass a public referendum on theNew York Workmen’s CompensationLaw, November 4, 1913. 1914 NYSIF writes its first

policy, July 1, 1914.

13

1913

Fortunate, indeed, are we who were born during the so-called “Gay Nineties.” It was our good luck to be born

just about the time things started to happen in this old world.

In 1914, with the inception of the Workmen’s Compensa-tion Law, the State Insurance Fund was created. About thesame time, the great World War started and we entered a pe-riod of industrial activity never equaled in the history of ourcountry. The Great Depression followed this period, so thatwe who have gone through the last 20 years have lived a life-time.

During December 1914, I received a telegram from thesecretary of the old Workmen’s Compensation Commissionasking me if I would accept a position as payroll auditor withthe State Insurance Fund. When I sent word that I would ac-cept, I was notified to report for duty on January 4, 1915. Iwas introduced to the Fund manager, Dr. F. Spencer Bald-win, a man of dynamic personality and a leader in a newfield. After giving me an inspiring talk, he turned me overto Assistant Manager Mr. Muller and I was assigned to thePayroll Audit division. The division at that time consisted ofabout 10 payroll auditors who were called upon not only toaudit payrolls, butalso made up theentire Billing De-partment in con-nection with ouraccounting.

At that time, our Accounting Department consisted of achief accountant and two bookkeepers. The field men nowmay think they have cause for complaint if their expensechecks are not received within two weeks after the close ofthe month. On my first trip upstate for the Fund, I left NewYork in August to cover the Syracuse district. All payroll au-ditors at that time were assigned to the NYC office and sentupstate when necessary. After spending five months in theSyracuse district, from August 1st to Christmas Eve, I re-ceived my first expense check upon my return to New Yorkon December 24th. Not only that, but when the State Work-men’s Compensation Commission was reorganized during

1915 as the State Industrial Commission, State Fund employ-ees did not receive any salary checks for two months.

Payroll auditing in those days was rather romantic. Wewere the first representatives of the State Fund to visit poli-cyholders as practically all of our business in the first yearwas written by mail. We were the missionaries sent out tospread the gospel of a new thought – “State Insurance.” Wewere not only expected to audit payrolls, but write new busi-ness, handle claims, or any other job that needed to be done.Branch offices atthat time consistedof one service repand a stenographer.

In those days, thestate was not hon-eycombed by motor bus systems and I knew of no one in theFund who was able to maintain an automobile. Practically alltravel was by railroad and in order to reach the towns off therailroad, a horse and buggy was hired. I recall one risk I au-dited in 1915, which was known as Benson Mines Company,located in the town of Benson Mines, St. Lawrence County.In order to reach this plant, I arose at five in the morning atCarthage to get a six o’clock train on the Cranberry Lake Di-vision. It took about two hours to reach Benson Mines, 40miles away. This was the only train scheduled in the morn-ing and after reaching the plant and auditing the payroll, Ihad to remain around the town until six o’clock at night towait for the return train.

Another amusing incident comes to mind when I found itnecessary to hire a rig from a livery stable in a town calledWolcott in Wayne County. After calling on a number of pol-icyholders in the vicinity, I found myself in the eveningaround Sodus Bay. Not knowing how to get back to Wolcott,I inquired the direction from one of our policyholders, andhe said, “Did you hire the rig in Wolcott?” When I answeredyes, he said “Just point the horse’s head east and he will takeyou home.” Much to my surprise he did, for I guess he wasthinking of the feedbag at the end of the trail.

– T.G. Gorman, 1934

I left in August for theSyracuse district andreturned on Dec. 24.

I knew of no one in theFund who was able tomaintain an automobile.

Spurred by an Inspiring Talk and Horse Sense


1915NYSIF publishes, The State Fund - ItsRight to Compete, in response to privatecarriers that contend the Fund should benon-competitive. The booklet includes arebuttal letter by Gov. Charles S. Whitman.

John Forest, who serves as district manager forapproximately 50 years, opens the first Albanyoffice, hiring one secretary, some time prior to1920 in one room under the steps of the StateCapitol.

I n the beginning, two men earned respect and admiration as “Fathers of StateFund” from the staff they helped guide to success against incredible odds.

The New York Times reported the appointment of Dr. Foy Spencer Baldwin asmanager of the State Fund on Friday, May 8, 1914. Widely held by state officialsas the most-qualified man for the job, Dr. Baldwin accepted the $6,000-a-year po-sition after resigning as professor of political economy and dean of the College ofBusiness Administration at Boston University. Former Secretary of the CasualtyCompany of America, Major Nicholas W. Muller, who served in the Spanish-American War, accepted appointment as Fund assistant manager on May 11, 1914.

These men are credited with NYSIF’s early success as it faced challenges to ob-tain business and uphold its right to compete. An excerpt from Major Muller’s ar-ticle, “1914 - The Embattled State Fund” writing on NYSIF’s 20th anniversary in1934, recounts Dr. Baldwin’s legacy and that of those who worked alongside him:

The Fathers of State Fund

On or about June 1, 1914, the Fund was rap-idly organizing itself to do business withoutknowing where the business was coming fromor how it was to be secured. The manager wasextremely active from the moment he assumedhis duties in securing publicity for the StateFund through newspaper articles and lettersand circulars sent to such lists of employersas were obtainable... The manager, too,

promptly arranged with leading businessmen to organize meetingsto discuss the new insurance problem. He made it a point to attendand speak at all of the conferences organized independently by em-ployers, chambers of commerce and industrial associations. In thismanner he so impressed his personality upon leaders of industrythat they decided to place their insurance with the Fund solely onhis account. It is this business, almost exclusively secured by themanager, which laid the foundation for the Fund.

However, this would not have been sufficient to establish theFund as anything other than a small mutual insurance company.He foresaw that the time would quickly arrive when the Fund wouldbe obliged to write a large amount of business unacceptable toother insurance carriers and that to enable the Fund to deal withthis business successfully, it would be necessary to secure a largervolume of desirable business than could be secured through hispersonal effort. He and the consulting actuary conceived of havinga questionnaire sent to all employers listed by the Department ofLabor, requesting class of operations and payroll amounts for theprevious six months. By law at the time, the Fund could only issueinsurance for periods of six months. As a result of this hasty cir-cular, we received approximately 15,000 returns. These, however,together with the rates, were not available until nearly mid-June. Itis remarkable that out of approximately 15,000 policies issued, em-ployers accepted 5,011. These risks, with an annual premium ofover $1 million, started the Fund on its career.

Obviously, rating these questionnaires and issuing these policiescreated a herculean task that was successfully carried out througha united effort and demonstrated enthusiasm for the Fund that pre-vailed among Fund employees. Dr. Baldwin’s personality had so im-pressed itself upon staff that an esprit de corps made the Fundstand out as an exemplary unit from among the several units underthe original Workmen’s Compensation Commission. These werehectic days. Employees worked without consideration of time. It wasnot unusual for 10 or more employees to work all night. Theyworked until they were exhausted, then stretched out on desktopsto secure such rest as was possible under the circumstances.

The Fund’s successful effort to launch itself as a real competitorin the field of compensation insurance in spite of all handicaps nat-urally surprised the stock insurance companies, which had believedthemselves free to select their business and leave the Fund onlythat business which they did not want. A great effort was made toplace the Fund in a non-competitive position. Mr. J. Scofield Rowe,at the time vice president of the Aetna Indemnity Company, wasdesignated spokesman for the challengers. He launched an attackupon the Fund’s audacity to compete actively, appealing to the gov-ernor for the immediate cessation of the Fund’s activities. Unfortu-nately, for the challengers, they underestimated the resourcefulnessof Dr. Baldwin. He so thoroughly answered them with sound rea-soning and logic, pointing out that the Fund could not exist exceptby active and effective competition, that Gov. Charles S. Whitmandismissed the complaint and promulgated the state’s policy in favorof an effective, competitive State Insurance Fund.

NYSIF’s newsletter, The Reporter, has printed hundreds of articles about employees since publication began in 1982. In

1989, it covered the careers of Dr. Baldwin and Major Muller.

14

Dr. Baldwin


15

After 20 years of courageous battling, he can look back with satisfaction on theresults of his labors. He is a major in the United States Army but he has been andis of major importance to the State Fund. He has grown gray in its service...likean anxious father, he has watched over the Fund...he has fought by ProfessorBaldwin’s side and has carried on after he left...The record justifies MajorMuller’s 20 years with us and makes us proud to have had him guiding the StateFund to its destined greatness.

1934 testimonial to Nicholas Muller, then NYSIF’s longest active employee, on its 20th anniversary(In 1938, Mr. Muller became executive director until his death in 1943. Although an obituary reported he attained the military rank of

lieutenant colonel, apparently to staff he was forever “The Major.”)

1920s

ments that were previously excluded. In addition, the Fundwas now deemed totally self-sufficient. A turnover of Fundexpenses from the state to the Fund itself was not originallyplanned until 1917. The fact that it occurred a year early wasa testament to the ability of the Fund’s management and staff.

The last amendment placed the Fund’s reserves and invest-ments under the supervision of the Superintendent of Insur-ance, giving the Insurance Department the same level ofcontrol over the Fund as it had over private insurers. The su-perintendent had no control over the rates the Fund couldcharge, though. The Fund decided to adopt the New YorkCompensation Insurance Rating Board Manual the sameyear, placing NYSIF on uniform footing with private insur-ance carriers regarding risk classifications.

The New York State Supreme Court upheld the Fund’sconstitutionality in 1917. It also removed maritime employ-ments and injuries that occurred during interstate commercefrom coverage under the law, placing these under the federalEmployer’s Liability Act.

1920sDr. Baldwin resigned as manager in 1920. His assistant

Nicholas W. Muller served as interim manager. Dr. Bald-win’s eventual successor was L.W. Hatch. The focus thatyear, and for much of the ensuing decade, involved furtherrefining the Fund’s operation and management.

In 1921, an amendment separated the judicial and admin-

istrative branches of the Labor Department. Now adminis-tered solely by the Industrial Commissioner, NYSIF nolonger operated under the same body that decided casesagainst it.

Maritime workers came backunder coverage of the compensationlaw in 1922. The same year anamendment allowed for creation ofan advisory committee of policy-holders, leading to several benefitsfor the Fund. It fostered greater un-derstanding between the agency andits assureds, instilling greater confi-dence in Fund management by poli-cyholders.

NYSIF insured its first safetygroup in 1923, beginning a programfor groups of similar employers whofocus on safety and claims manage-ment to realize premium savings andyearly dividends. More than 110safety groups are part of the Fund in 2014, including the firstgroup, Launderers and Cleaners Group 34.

In 1924, NYSIF moved to its own office at 432 Fourth Av-enue. Until that time, NYSIF shared office space with the De-partment of Labor, first at One Madison Avenue, next at 230Fifth Avenue, and then at 124 East 28th Street. With the

NYSIF Century from page 12

Edwin Carr servesas the first Syracusedistrict manager forapproximately 30years.

The first Buffalo officeopens with John Keatingserving as districtmanager from May 1,1923 to January 31, 1956.

After sharing space with theDept. of Labor for 10 years atthree Manhattan addresses,NYSIF opens its own office at432 Fourth Avenue in 1924.

»

NYSIF establishes its SafetyGroup Program on July 1,1923, with the Launderersand Cleaners Group 34.

Maintain a solvent Fund that isalways availableto New Yorkbusinesses.

Provide timely andappropriate indemnityand medical payments toinjured workers.

Drive down thecost of workers’comp. insurancefor businessesoperating in NewYork State.

Ensure that all New Yorkbusinesses have a marketfor workers’ compensationinsurance available tothem at a fair price.

Be a competitiveforce in themarket as anindustry leaderin price, quality and service.

New York State Insurance Fund

Competitionin the

Public Interest

Competition in thePublic Interest, an

abridged version ofthe original 1915booklet The State

Fund – Its Right toCompete, remains

available on theinternet at nysif.com.


16

1928Despite competition from66 private carriers, NYSIF,with 22,954 policies, is thelargest writer of workers’comp. in New York State.

Frances Perkins, named asindustrial commissioner by Gov.Franklin D. Roosevelt, becomes theFund’s top official a year after JeanMoscicki (far l.) starts at NYSIF.

1929

move, the administrative separation from the Workman’sCompensation Commission now became a physical separa-tion as well.

Mr. Hatch resigned asmanager, replaced a yearlater by C. Gordon Smith.Meanwhile, 1928 becamea hallmark year for theFund as it surpassed all ofits competitors, becomingthe largest workers’ com-pensation insurance car-rier in New York.

1930sThe Great Depression

defined the tumultuousdecade and NYSIF facedtremendous challenges.With a drastic change inthe economic landscape,the Fund experienced a de-crease in premium of 8%in 1930 from the previous year. Despite the loss in premium,the Fund decided to write insurance at a 21% advance dis-count from board rates.

The Fund moved again in 1931, this time to 625 MadisonAvenue between 58th and 59th streets. It also increased thediscount it offered from 21% to 25%. Premiums collectedby the Fund continued to drop during the year while the num-ber of policyholders grew from 20,892 to 22,043.

NYSIF provided insurance protection to many thousands ofworkers on unemployment relief projects in various munici-palities of the state during the Depression years. In 1933, anumber of private insurers dropped out of the workmen’scompensation market. True to form, the State Fund fulfilledits obligation by filling the void.

In 1935, an amendment to the law made all occupationaldiseases compensable. Private insurance companies turneddown many risks, particularly involving the hazard of sili-cosis, unwilling to assume this liability. These employersturned to NYSIF, which was prepared to provide coverageunder its safety group plans. By the end of 1935, the Fundalso insured more than 400 state municipalities and politicalsubdivisions. The Fund continued to grow throughout thedecade, employing 1,061 workers by the end of 1936.

A 1929 memo signed by Indus-trial Commissioner FrancesPerkins asked Fund Manager C.Gordon Smith for help in study-ing the effects of noise on factoryworkers.Ms. ‘State Fund’

Although no one ever bestowed the official desig-nation upon her, if anyone can lay claim to the

title, “Ms. State Fund,” it certainly had to be JeanMoscicki of the Buffalo office.

Buffalo staff and management, however, did com-memorate her legacy with a plaque at the entrance of aconference room named in her honor.

The iconic run of New York State’s longest tenuredemployee, after all, did not end until her death at 83 onJune 12, 1992. By then, Ms. Moscicki was in her 65th

year of service to NYSIF.

Until then, her career almost paralleled the whole ofNYSIF’s existence, which began a mere 14 years beforeshe arrived at the Fund and five years after she wasborn. An 18-year-old Ms. Moscicki first came to workas a State Fund stenographer on May 10, 1928.

She became a personal administrator, assisting six dif-ferent Buffalo office managers and served under 10NYSIF executive directors.

Jean Moscicki

New York State’s longesttenured employee.



17

It is quite possible the State Insurance Fund’s mostenduring image overlooks a NYC side street from

an exterior wall of NYSIF’s office building in lowerManhattan. The marble likeness of mother, father andchild, (profiled in a 1977 volume of National Sculp-ture Review) is the allegorical sculpture Unity of theFamily by Oronzio Maldarelli.

NYSIF was created in response to the type ofworkplace accident that could demote families tolives of destitution, if not tear them apart. More thana century ago, the Triangle Shirtwaist fire was onesuch incident that could render that kind of impact.Frances Perkins succinctly grasped the indignant hardshipscaused by industrial accidents during her tour of factoryworking conditions.

Artwork by Dorothy Smith depictsNYSIF’s mission on behalf of injuredworkers: prompt payment of benefits,early treatment, and rehabilitation.Oronzio Maldarelli’s sculpture (top),mounted on the Duane Street side ofNYSIF’s home office, summons theFund’s responsibility to claimants.Former Claims directors Morris Jacobs (far r., 52 years) andConstance Cabell (41 years) both started as clerks.

$30,219,966,096(As of 3/31/2014, includes value entered in first NYSIF computer, 1960.)

‘Avoiding poverty was not a questionsimply of liquor or laziness, but alsoof safety devices on machines.’

Frances Perkins

The Insurer That Cares

Making timely and appropriate indemnity and medicalpayments to claimants, as well as benefits for dependent sur-vivors, is a vital part of NYSIF’s core mission. As NYSIFobserves the century mark, that commitment has led to work-ers’ compensation and medical payments of more than $30.2billion since its inception. Those payments have helped nu-merous families weather the sometimes-crippling aftermathof workplace injury and illness over the years.

“Claims staff focus on professional and competent per-formance, always keeping in mind NYSIF’s mission,” Di-rector of Claims Marilyn Carretta says.

Unity of the Family is a symbol of which NYSIF Claimsemployees never lose sight, the reason why they faithfullytend to the needs of NYSIF claimants every day. NYSIF as-signs a case manager and team responsible for handling eachclaim with care. The benefits for NYSIF claimants include

more than wage replacement. They benefit from proactivecase management by medical care representatives who au-thorize needed services and equipment to restore function,dignity and a productive lifestyle, and vocational counselorswho help identify suitable return-to-work opportunities.

Managing risk and claim costs means more than simplyreducing the claim life cycle. It means sparing physical andemotional pain for claimants, as well as economic hardship.It rebuilds lives, repairs self-esteem and lifts the spirit. Asthe workers’ compensation and disability benefits specialist,NYSIF has always been “The Insurer That Cares.”

On a past NYSIF anniversary, former Governor Nelson A.Rockefeller noted, “The men and women who continue tocarry out the tasks of this great agency may look back withpride and satisfaction upon its accomplishments, and forwardwith a renewed spirit of dedication and purpose.”

Those words are as true today as they were then.

Workers’ compensation claims andmedical expenses paid, includingbenefits to dependents, since 1914.


NYSIF underwent a significant reorganization in 1938. Onthe recommendation of Governor Herbert Lehman, a NYSIFBoard of Commissioners was created consisting of eightmembers, who were employers insuring with the Fund. TheIndustrial Commissioner (now the New York State Commis-sioner of Labor), by virtue of the office, would also serve asa commissioner, ex-officio. The Fund’s internal administra-tion changed as well. These changes resulted in the creationof executive director, deputy executive director, general at-

1930 1931Rochester officeopens. Earl Pattisonserves as districtmanager until 1960.

NYSIF relocatesto 625 MadisonAvenue in NYC,its home through1954.

torney, medical director and actuary positions. All other em-ployees were civil service. Manager Smith passed away dur-ing the year and his successor, Mr. Muller, was the first tohold the title of executive director.

1940sThe Fund faced a variety of new challenges and respon-

sibilities during the early to mid-1940s, one of which wasto meet the demand created by a steady increase in indus-trial activity resulting from the war effort. War emergencyconditions for businesses throughout 1942 created seriousproblems for the Fund, mainly coping with the rising fre-quency of industrial accidents. This compelled NYSIF toexpand and intensify its safety services.

While greatly in-creased wage scalesduring the war werereflected in Fundpremiums, manythousands of smallorganizations thatcould not adapt theirwork or services tothe war effort wereforced out of busi-ness, resulting in aloss of manyNYSIF policyhold-ers. However, the

NYSIF safety groups insure whole industriesleft exposed by the private sector, includingwindow cleaning, building demolition andsummer hotel workers.


Industrial diseases common whenNYSIF began: “Hatter’s shake,”contracted by breathing fumesfrom making felt hats; radiumpoisoning, caused by wettingpaintbrushes with lips beforepainting luminous dials on clocksand watches.

NYSIF declaration appearing in the 25th anniversary report in 1939 (r.),author unknown.

18

»


19

In the throes of the Great Depression,NYSIF writes policies at a discountof 25% below board rates, increasingthe discount from 21% a year earlier.

The Compensation Lawis amended to make alloccupational illnessescompensable.

1935

increase in industrial activity brought new business toNYSIF, as well as a resurgence of private insurers seeking tocompete with the Fund.

Like most organizations, NYSIF faced difficult personnelproblems caused by the induction of employees into thearmed services. In 1942, 120 men and two women left theFund to serve. NYSIF employees on the home front patriot-ically applied themselves to war activities by organizing aWar Drive Committee to send gifts to employees in serviceand keeping them updated on news from home. They alsocontributed to blood drives and the purchase of War Bondsamong other activities. As many as 93% of NYSIF employ-ees participated in a War Bond purchase campaign. The U.S.Treasury awarded the Fund its “Minute Man” banner, recog-nizing the percentage of systematic purchases of War Bondsby employees.

During 1943, the Fund maintained its level of War Bondspurchased as its ranks shrunk. The induction of an additional75 men and five women brought NYSIF's total employees inservice to the country to 202. The Fund won the AmericanRed Cross Blood Donor Award and its Merit Award for gen-erous financial contributions.

Limiting workplace accidents became the major emphasisduring these years. The Fund routinely visited workplaces ofits policyholders and assisted them in dealing with new chal-lenges presented by the wartime production effort. That year,there was a decrease in injuries of 5.4% from the previousyear, as well as fewer injuries than reported in 1941. Similarnumbers were reported in 1944. Many NYSIF policyholdersreceived the Army-Navy “E” Award for Excellence inWartime Production. These awards indicated that Fund ef-forts to limit time lost to injury were successful. NYSIF re-ceived numerous awards for its efforts in reducing workplaceinjuries.

The Fund’s Executive Director Lt. Col. Muller passedaway in 1943, and William O’Rourke, the general attorney,assumed duties as acting executive director. Edward J. Pow-ers became the Fund’s executive director in 1945, the fifthchief executive in NYSIF’s 31 years.

NYSIF’s safety record received recognition for a segmentof New York State industry in July 1945 by Superintendentof Insurance Robert E. Dineen and Workmen's CompensationBoard Chairwoman Mary Donlon. They reported to the NewYork Joint Legislative Committee on Interstate Cooperationthat, “The State Insurance Fund has in a very large measure

been responsible for the reduction in premium rates in log-ging, lumbering and allied operations by its encouragementand effort in safety work with a special group in this industry.”

The National Bureau for Industrial Protection also citedthe Fund for its contribution toward accident prevention,specifically for its active safety campaign that resulted in asteady decrease in industrial accidents.

The Fund’s War Drive Committee disbanded in 1946. By thetime the war ended, employees had contributed over $10,000in donations and purchased $650,000 in bonds.

In 1948, NYSIF established a working relationship withNew York University Medical Center Institute of Rehabili-tation and Physical Medicine to select appropriate claims forstudy and training at the clinic. The initiative was in line witha drive to promote employment of people with physical dis-abilities and the importance of rehabilitation in the field ofworkers’ compensation.

An amendment to the law made 1949 another landmarkyear for NYSIF, now authorized to write insurance under theNew York State Disability Benefits Law. The new law, re-quiring covered employers to provide insurance to employeesfor lost wages resulting from off-the-job injury or illness, tookeffect on July 1, 1950. William O’Rourke became acting di-rector again in 1949, after the resignation of Mr. Powers.

creativecommons.org

Attorney Jerome Lieberman, System Development’s GeorgeHelberg, Sr. Underwriter Jules Linefsky and Underwriter HarveyHoodoff (l.-r.), four WWII veterans employed by NYSIF in a1990s photo.



Prelude: NYSIF more than doubled in policy-holders by the end of the 1930s, representing across-section of big and small businesses – fromthe owner of a one-chair barbershop, to contrac-tors on some of the greatest engineering projectsof the time.

1941: NYSIF writes almost one third of all work-ers’ compensation in the state, insuring over47,000 employers with more than 1,000,000 em-ployees. Wartime conditions, particularly the in-creased number of accidents resulting from thedrive for maximum production, bring grave newresponsibilities. Accident prevention services,augmented and expanded in 1940, intensified.NYSIF’s slogan, “Conserve men and materialsthrough accident prevention,” gains greater sig-nificance. NYSIF distributes thousands of copiesof President Roosevelt’s proclamation calling forall-out efforts in accident prevention. Industrialaccidents in the state reach an all-time high, in-creasing 20.3% over 1940 while NYSIF policy-holders report a 19.8% increase in accidents.

1942: The stress of wartime production de-mands, along with a chaotic employment situa-tion, prompts further expansion of NYSIF safetyservices. Daily and weekly visits to war contrac-tors replace monthly and quarterly visits. Safetyservices fit the needs of increased employment,two- and three-shift working days, and the em-ployment of thousands of women in place of men. Fund policy-holders report an increase of only 5.6% in injuries, while otheremployers in the state report a 14.1% increase. Workplace fatalitiesamong NYSIF assureds decrease 1.5%, while other employers re-port a 3% increase. More than 20 policyholders win the Army-Navy“E” Award for Excellence in Wartime Production, a tribute to Fundefforts to reduce loss time accidents. Several hundred assureds inthe Fund’s Victory Safety Contest report lower injury frequency thanin 1941.

1943: Policyholders report 5.4% fewer injuries than in 1942, anda total number of injuries below that of 1941. Other employers re-port a 15% increase over 1941. Assureds report nearly 9% less fa-talities in the workplace than other employers, who againexperience an increase of nearly 3%. Of the 218 state plants to winthe Army-Navy “E” award, 51 are Fund policyholders. NYSIF dis-tributes the 24-page illustrated booklet Supervising Safety in Ma-chine Shops for the benefit of many employers in that industrylargely engaged in the war effort. The Fund wins the American Red

Cross Blood Donor Award and Merit Award forgenerous financial contributions. Almost 90% ofemployees purchase War Bonds through payrolldeduction. Additional bonds purchased individu-ally by employees total $31,500. An employees’War Drive Committee sends Christmas gifts, let-ters and The Roll Call, a State Fund magazine, toemployees in service. NYSIF’s chapter of Ameri-can Women’s Voluntary Services, Inc., con-tributes knitted goods to service organizations.

1944: Despite wartime employment and produc-tion difficulties, policyholders report a 4.4% de-crease in injuries from the previous year, and a4.5% decrease from 1941. Injury severity showssimilar decreases. Good accident preventionrecords help 69 policyholders win the Army-Navy“E” award, of some 288 won by employersstatewide. Since 1942, employee purchases of WarBonds and stamps total $505,036, not includingbonds bought outside NYSIF. With the inductionof 11 men and three women, 194 NYSIF employ-ees continue to serve in the armed forces, includ-ing nine women. Two NYSIF men die in action.

1945: Reported accidents by policyholders are5.3% less than in 1944. Of approximately 370employers who win the Army-Navy “E” award,100 have coverage with NYSIF. Cited by the Na-tional Bureau for Industrial Protection for assist-ing industry in accident prevention, NYSIF

receives official recognition for safety services from the Superin-tendent of Insurance and the Workmen’s Compensation Board in areport to the New York Joint Legislative Committee on InterstateCooperation, showing large financial savings for NYSIF assuredsin the logging and lumbering industry. The report notes the impor-tant influence of NYSIF policyholders’ experience on lowering work-ers’ compensation rates for all New York employers in theseoperations. Entries in the Victory Safety Contest assure the largestsafety campaign ever conducted in the state by any organization.The Fund’s accident prevention activities, conserving manpower,production time and materials are cited for playing a “most impor-tant part in the nation’s war program.”

1946: NYSIF’s War Drive Committee disbands after approximately$10,000 in contributions to various patriotic and charitable causesand purchases of more than $650,000 in War Bonds over the pastfour years. More than 49,800 employers now have workers’ com-pensation insurance with NYSIF, whose assets have reached$109,662,953. The Fund insures construction workers on theBrooklyn-Battery Tunnel.

20

The Syracuse office opens a branchin Binghamton at the end of thedecade, one of several NYSIF districtoffice branches operated until 1953.

1938NYSIF insures more than 44,000 employers, including thebiggest projects of the day: Midtown Tunnel, Sixth AvenueSubway, West Side Highway, New York approach to theLincoln Tunnel, Delaware Water Supply System, filling andgrading of Flushing Meadows for the 1939 World’s Fair.

1937

NYSIF rallying cry:Conserve men andmaterials through

accident prevention.

The War Years


21

left their Madison Avenue offices on a Fri-day afternoon and reported to Church Streeton Monday morning. In 2014, NYSIF con-tinues to own the property that serves ashome for its NYC and statewide servicesoperations.

State Fund underwriters developed the necessary formsand procedures to begin offering coverage for volunteer fire-fighters under the new Volunteer Firefighters Benefits Law,effective January 1, 1957. Also in January of that year, theMoreland Commission, convened to study the costs and op-eration of the Workers’ Compensation Law, recommendedexcluding NYSIF’s loss experience in determining workers’compensation rates in New York State. The Superintendentof Insurance accepted the suggestion beginning in 1958. TheAppellate Division upheld the decision unanimously in 1959.

However, initiatives to convince the State Legislature toenact legislation restricting the Funds’ operations were un-successful. It was necessary for NYSIF to write each legis-lator clarifying its position on solicitation of business.

To better serve policyholders, NYSIF merged the Policy-holder Service Department and the Inspection and Safety

1941-45



1950sThe Fund wrote approximately 13,000 policies under the

Disability Benefits Law in the first year, many for policy-holders with NYSIF workers’ compensation coverage.

Mr. O’Rourke, who joined the Fund in 1940 as general at-torney, served as acting director until his death in 1950.Shortly thereafter, William B. Folger, the longest servingchief executive of the NYSIF century, became executive di-rector.

The 1951 Legislature extended workers’ compensationbenefits to cover, at cost to the state and on limited basis,civil defense volunteers injured in the line of duty if an attackoccurred. Public employees assigned to civil defense werealso covered whether or not they had workers’ compensationcoverage at their regular jobs. In the first year that NYSIFbegan reporting results of its disability benefits fund, premi-ums in the course of collection were $3,261.96.

The Fund continued to grow and in January 1955, NYSIFmoved from 625 Madison Avenue, where it conducted busi-ness for a quarter century, to a new building at 199 ChurchStreet in lower Manhattan. The move went smoothly. Workers

Veterans of WWII, Korea and Vietnamshowed their colors at a meeting of thegroup Vets for Vets at NYSIF in the 1990s.Bi-yearly meetings of the group beginningin 1986 continued through 2014 with newgenerations of NYSIF veterans.

NYSIF accident prevention activities in conserving manpower,production time and materials are cited for “a most importantpart in the nation’s war program.”

Mr. Folger

National Bureau for Industrial Protection


22

NYSIF is authorized to write insurance underthe state’s new Disability Benefits Law, effectiveJuly 1, 1950, requiring coverage of off-the-jobinjury or illness for workers.

1949 1950NYSIF writes it first disability benefitsinsurance policy, one of approximately13,000 it writes during the law’s firstyear, many for policyholders who holdNYSIF workers’ compensation policies.

New Law, Old ReliableA relative newcomer in compulsory insurance legislation, the

New York Disability Benefits Law, enacted in 1949, became ef-fective July 1, 1950. Unlike workers’ compensation, disabilitybenefits provide partial wage replacement to employees for in-juries and illnesses sustained off the job.

As at the outset of workers’ compensation legislation in NewYork, private carriers were again at odds with having NYSIF inthe market. In a May 25, 1949 bulletin, “Necessity for the StateFund,” then Superintendent of Insurance Robert E. Dineenquelled the debate, rejecting the notion that disability benefitscoverage for undesirable risks could be served by private carri-ers through an assigned risk plan.

“It might do the employees...a grave disservice to compelthem to deal with an assigned insurer that did not want to carrythe risk,” he wrote. “The Fund should not be subject to needlesshandicaps in discharging its responsibilities and in furnishingcoverage under the new law.”

Indeed, NYSIF has furnished a much-needed service througha low cost disability benefits insurance program providing statu-tory coverage for thousands of businesses and employees since1950. In the 21st Century, the program has only becomestronger, offering the lowest disability benefits rates in NewYork. NYSIF introduced premium credit incentives in 2006 andenriched coverage options in 2010, plus online services includ-ing a premium calculator and quote system, payroll reportingand certificates of insurance.

In 2013, NYSIF disability benefits had more than 61,500 poli-cies and its largest net premium increase since the centurybegan, a record $1.43 million.

I n 1955, NYSIFstaff eagerly an-

ticipated leaving be-hind office space at625 Madison Avenueand moving to its newheadquarters in lowerManhattan at 199Church Street.

During the postWWII boom, as Pres-ident Dwight Eisen-hower occupied theWhite House, the sub-urbs expanded andMilton Berle ruled Tuesday night television, NYSIF had grownto 73,000 workers’ compensation policies and $70 million in an-nual premiums. It needed a building suitable for a large insurer.

The building, still owned by NYSIF, had innovations that wereahead of other office buildings at the time. Our New Home OfficeBuilding, a pamphlet, introduced employees to the premises.

It said the build-ing was constructedto meet current andfuture needs of theFund. Sixty yearslater, that declara-

tion and the building have held up to their promise. The pam-phlet’s author described the structure as “an edifice worthy of ourpride; truly a landmark of lasting beauty” including “special fea-tures which make this building a pioneer today and a modern onetomorrow.”

The Fund’s 15-story home office was state-of-the-art when itopened. It included built-in fluorescent lighting, sound-dampen-ing acoustic tile, self-operating elevators and central air. The ar-chitect’s experience in designing post offices may have led to theinclusion of a mail-shoot conveyor system on each floor andpneumatic tubes that sped documents between floors – the net-works of their time.

In 1955, Room 107 was a bank, Room 108 housed claimantservices, and the top three floors were leased to the Public Service

Fluorescent lighting,acoustic tile and self-serve elevators.

NYSIFEdifice

Disability Benefits staff, 2006.


23

As occupational hearing losstakes a toll, NYSIF providescoverage where other carriers refuse, resulting in markedlyimproved industry safety records.

1954

Commission (PSC). Until the late 1990s, the PSC’s wood-paneled hearing room on the top floor occupied the renovatedspace dedicated as the Terence L. Morris Conference andTraining Center in 2006.

The landscape of Lower Manhattan has changed quite abit since then, but NYSIF’s art deco office between Duaneand Thomas streets remains a local fixture. Its mosaiccanopy, brick exterior and sculptures are unique among high-rise office and apartment buildings and million-dollar resi-dential conversions that used to be factories and warehouses.

The foundation for New York’s first hospital was poured atop asmall hill west of Broadway, between where Worth and Duane streetsare now and the current site of 199 Church Street, on July 27, 1773.The three-story New York Hospital served as a treating facility andbarracks for troops during the American Revolution and set the scenefor one of the more ugly episodes in New York history – the Doctors’Riot of 1788.Only two rooms of the hospital, left in shambles by occupying

British forces during the war, were in use as a dissecting laboratoryby medical professors and students from nearby Columbia College.It was illegal to possess body parts, but students acquired cadaversof the newly deceased by robbing graves at the cemeteries of thepoor. Townspeople were so alarmed, many hired guards to protecttheir loved ones’ remains the first few nights after burial.The hysteria was such that the sight of a dangling human arm

through a laboratory window set off a chain reaction. An enragedmob broke in, and, finding human organs and limbs everywhere, torethe laboratory apart, attacking doctors and students. Only the arrivalof Mayor James Duane spared them from the mob.The following day a mob descended on City Hall jail, where the

doctors and students were being held. The mayor called for the mili-tia, reinforcements and, finally, a troop of soldiers. Alexander Hamil-ton tried to reason with the mob. Secretary of Foreign Affairs JohnJay was struck on the head with a rock. Hit in the skull by a brick,Army Inspector General Friedrich Von Steuben, who served underGeorge Washington, fell to the ground. Mayor Duane gave the orderto fire. Muskets flashed, smoke rose, five people died, and about eightwere wounded. Finally, the crowd dispersed.The first American law regulating the practice of anatomy was

passed the following year. Executed murderers, arsonists and bur-glars were fair game while law-abiding citizens were off-limits.The hospital opened to its first patients in 1791. In 1803, it added a

surgical amphitheater. Five years later, it added a two-story buildingon the south side called the “Lunatic Asylum.” The first nurses’ trainingschool also opened in 1808. In 1869, the main building was torn down.Earliest records show that between 1829 and 1869, the hospital

treated about 100,000 patients, including 3,000 soldiers during theCivil War. New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center eventually relo-cated along the East River between 68th and 70th streets. In 1950, So-phie G. Kernis of Brooklyngranted the property of the oldhospital, now 199 ChurchStreet, to NYSIF in 1950.The site came full circle on

September 11, 2001, as itagain served as a bunker foremergency personnel in thefirst 24 hours after the terroristattacks on the World TradeCenter.

Workers complete construction of 199Church Street. Among the most technicallyadvanced buildings of its time, it includes anin-floor duct system for telephone lines, stillin use for NYSIF data lines.

History of the Site

About the ArchitectBorn in Camden, NY, architect Lorimer Rich studied at Syra-cuse University, served in World War I, and practiced in NYCin the 1920s after leaving the prestigious McKim, Mead andWhite architectural firm. He designed many government build-ings and monuments, notably the Tomb of the Unknown Sol-dier at the Arlington National Cemetery. Sid Dombroff, fatherof NYSIF Principal Field Services Rep Gary Dombroff, was adraftsman in Mr. Rich’s firm during the 1950s.

About the SculptorsOronzio Maldarelli (Unity of the Family), born in Naples, Italy,in 1892, studied at the National Academy of Design, CooperUnion and Beaux-Arts Institute. Recipient of the Logan Prizeand Widener Gold Medal, his works include: the Madonna inLady Chapel at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. C.P. Jennewein (Dedi-cated to the Service of the People of the State of New York),born in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1890, studied at the Arts StudentLeague. Recipient of the Prix de Rome, his works include: stonereliefs at the Federal Office Building and the AT&T and RCAbuildings in New York City.

The Church Street cornerstone box, sealed 11/23/1954, includedNY Times and Herald Tribune (reporting GM’s 50 millionth car)newspapers, original policies for the American ManufacturingCo. of Brooklyn and Everett & Treadwell of Kingston, and a sum-mary of business since 1914. Accidently unearthed during a ren-ovation, the box contained a hand written note: E.J. Brandtsealed this without charge. A second box sealed with original andnew contents was restored to the cornerstone on 11/23/2004.

Artists’ renderings: 199 Church Street (top), and original New YorkHospital (above). Opposite page: the building today.


24


25

Sculptor C.P. Jennewein’s bas relief, “Dedicated to theService of the People of the State of New York,” at theentrance to NYSIF office at 199 Church Street, NYC.


26

‘Safety first is firstwith us at the StateInsurance Fund.’

NYSIF insured contractors and sub-contractors forconstruction of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towersfrom day one, placing Field Services reps Nick Mell(photo, circa 1967) and Henry Balkus on permanentduty at the site, starting with the demolition of existingbuildings and remaining through topping out.


Policy data and analytic tools allow Field Services to iden-tify policies for intervention. Field reps design customizedloss prevention programs. Other policyholders invite FieldServices to conduct training on an array of safety topics thataffect big and small businesses. Dedicated field reps arriveto share their expertise and impart the importance of safety.

As a former executive director, James J. Carroll, once putit, “Safety first is first with us at the State Insurance Fund.”

27

Partners in Safety

A ccident-free workdays are the goal of everybusiness. Some businesses effectively mini-

mize on-the-job injury and illness, while othersneed help. Most, however, have a healthier appre-ciation for safety after a visit from a NYSIF fieldservices rep.

When it comes to safety, NYSIF makes a con-scious effort not to lose sight of the value of per-sonal contact. That’s why the Fund often hearscomments like these... “Our field services rep isterrific. It’s good for our employees to see himin the shop. He does a walk-through and givesme a list of things we should be looking at. Wefollow up on his recommendations...” or “Yourexpertise in so many areas is crucial to our op-eration, and our staff sees that you are involvedand concerned about our success.”

All NYSIF field services reps receive a 30-hour Occupational Safety and Health Adminis-tration (OSHA) training course, and thencomplete an additional 15-hour OSHA course aspart of their ongoing training. However, their ex-pertise does not come from a classroom alone. Itdoesn’t happen overnight, within weeks or evenmonths. It comes from years of experience in thefield, going back to when field reps traveled formonths at a time – by rail and, when needed, byrig – to visit policyholders.

The Field Services Department has built suc-cessful relationships with generations of businessowners from one end of the state to the other basedon a simple, yet critical best practice: face-to-facecontact.

“We always believed that safety is a partnership [betweenNYSIF and the customer],” Director of Field Services ArminHoldorf says.

Field services reps routinely make thousands of visits topolicyholders yearly. In 2013, reps completed 17,128 on-sitesafety surveys, 3,768 action plans and 4,506 safety trainingand video presentations. They help employers take controlof workers compensation costs and reduce injuries and ill-nesses (sometimes even averting disaster; see page 28), byworking with them to:

• Foster a management commitment to safety;• Establish effective safety programs;

• Conduct accident investigations, loss assessmentanalysis, and address perilous behaviors; and

• Use hundreds of free safety resources atnysif.com to augment safety meetings and down-load packaged safety materials tailored for specificindustries from automotive sales to warehousing.

From top: T-shirt message signifies theimportance of NYSIF Field Services;

Field Services conference in Albany in1988 included the first female NYSIF

field representatives; Marketing in 1969promoted NYSIF’s specialty as

a workers’ compensation and disabilitybenefits insurer.


28

Brick-by-Brick Demolition Spares a Radioactive Wreck The following letter written by a retired field services rep in the

early 1980s offers a classic account of NYSIF’s public service.

As the occupational disease team for the Field ServicesDepartment in the mid-1950s, Chris Broms and I had a

variety of challenging assignments: measuring concentrationsof asbestos fibers affecting insulation workers, exposure tolead fumes for plumbers and linotypers, silica-bearing dust infoundries, granite shops and rock quarries, and NYC watertunnels under construction near Hancock and Ellenville, NY.

The New York Dept. of Labor codes were standardizing ex-posure limits for ionizing radiation. Many problems and tech-niques were new. We were learning from each other and, attimes, from those we monitored, which was typical of the in-dustry.

In May 1959, one assignment had ramifications be-yond exposures to industrial workers. Senior FieldRep Rudy Burkhardt made an initial inspection of535 Pearl Street, an address that no longer exists.His report stated that the 10-story building occupiedby an envelope manufacturer had been vacated by theU.S. Radium Company, which painted watch dials and panelboards with luminescent radium-based paint.

We surveyed all 10 floors and found the heaviest contam-ination on the top twolevels. Wood floors cov-ered with deterioratinglinoleum had readily ab-sorbed spills. We foundcontaminated areas nearthe elevator, under and adjacent to radiators, on windowledges and other spots. Wood chairs, cots and plumbing trapsin the restrooms showed considerable radioactivity.

Before we proceeded with a list of recommendations, anofficer of the company advised us that the firm had a littleover two years remaining at this location. The property hadbeen leased from the federal General Services Administration(GSA), which had scheduled the building for demolition tomake room for a projected federal office building.

The energy, range and types of radioactive contaminants,ratio of alpha, beta and gamma beams, and remaining timeof occupancy, factored into our recommendations, including:

• Contaminated areas were to be painted over with at leastthree layers of high quality varnish or shellac to prevent releaseof airborne dust containing alpha particles and radon gas.

•Painted lines would mark spaces safely separated from the betaand gamma emissions, which diminish by the square of the distance.

• Contaminated cots, chairs, plumbing and linoleum wereto be removed by a certified carrier to an approved waste site.

• We would receive advanced notice from the companywhen it planned to vacate the building prior to demolition.

A follow-up indicated acceptable compliance. Three yearslater, I learned that demolition was scheduled for July 1962.My wife and I were leaving for a trip abroad so I immedi-ately called thewrecking contrac-tor and was sur-prised to hear thathis men wereready to proceed in

the usual fashion with a steel ball battering the walls. Noone had warned them there was a problem requiring

special precautions because of radioactive contam-ination.

I promptly contacted the NYC Board of Healthand local GSA office. The Atomic Energy Commis-

sion had no legal jurisdiction. No one seemed to graspthe urgency of the potential consequences of releasing ra-

dioactive dust particles into the streets and surroundingbuildings. The consequence would be the inhalation of dust-borne alpha particles that are very powerfully reactive withliving tissue. My first positive response came from the headof a newly created unit for Radiological Protection within theNY State Division of Industrial Hygiene. He promptlyarranged for a joint survey of the abandoned building by a teamfrom the initial agencies. Their recently generated spirit of con-cern was somewhat dampened by the power shut-off beforedemolition, which necessitated climbing 10 floors by foot.

I was relieved to learn the demolition was done under theclose supervision of a health physicist. It was virtually takendown by hand, brick by brick, under a continuous flow ofwater to prevent radioactive dust from becoming airborne.

– Abraham D. Wiener, retired June 1974

We surveyed all floors;top levels showedheavy radioactivity.

No one at first seemedto grasp the urgency ofthe situation.

Excerpt from the July 13, 1962 New York Times story, ‘RadiationDanger Halts Wrecking of Building Here” by Charles G. Bennett:

City and state officials ordered yesterday that the demolition of a10-story building at 535 Pearl Street be halted because of “signifi-cant radioactive contamination...” Saul J. Harris, radiological consultant of the Public Heath Service,

said the inspections had found about 20 “hot spots of exceptionalradioactivity...” At the direction of health officials, areas including the hot spots

have been walled off. When the structure is demolished the radioac-tive materials will be broken up separately and put into sealed bar-rels. These barrels will probably be dropped in the ocean.


Photos show NYSIF offices, circa 1981, including (clockwise fromtop, r.) 24 Plymouth Avenue North, Rochester, 879 Madison Avenue,Albany, 159 North Franklin Street, Hempstead, 901 James Street,Syracuse, 161 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, and 199 Church Street,NYC. NYSIF retains only the Church Street office building today.Other offices have replaced the rest. At the time of this photo, thenewly opened Hempstead facility was NYSIF’s first Long Islandoffice. It was later used as a NYSIF warehouse until its sale in2014.

29

Service Department in 1959, forming a new departmentcalled Field Services.

1960sThe Fund installed its first electronic computer in 1960 and

created a new Data and Systems Control Department to han-dle computer operations. Two amendments to the DisabilityBenefits Law between 1960 and 1962 brought non-profit

philanthropic and voluntary organizations under the law andrequired employers with at least one employee to obtain cov-erage.

Against a backdrop of rapidly changing social and eco-nomic conditions, the Fund continued to strengthen its posi-tion as the largest workers’ compensationcarrier in the state in 1964, as it completedits 50th year of service with $5.8 million inworkers’ compensation premiums. Com-bined assets for the workers’ compensationand disability benefits funds were $325million. The mid-1960s brought increasedprosperity to NYSIF, a climb that contin-ued into the next decade and allowed theFund to play an important role in the fiscalwell being of New York State during the financially turbulent1970s. James J. Carroll became NYSIF executive director in1967, ending a 17-year run by William Folger.

1970sThe Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970

established federal standards and programs that advancedworkplace safety methods similar to those practiced by theState Insurance Fund since inception as effective in reducingworkers’ compensation insurance costs: periodic inspections,accident prevention programs, employee training sessions,and noise and industrial hygiene surveys. Field services rep-resentatives made more than 50,000 visits to policyholders.Albert S. Milles replaced James Carroll as executive directorduring that same year.


A two-story construction inRochester, 24 Plymouth Ave. North,is the first district office built for andowned by NYSIF, which previouslyleased space at 65 Broad Street.

1959NYSIF installs its firstcomputer, an IBM7070, and creates anew department, Dataand Systems Control.

1960

Mr. Carroll

An early IBMmanual,personalized bya NYSIFemployee.

NYSIF 50th anniversary annual report, 1964.



30

Information Technology

T echnology at NYSIF spans a century of innovation –from writing ink and ballpoint pens, typewriters and

adding machines, to mainframes and web-based systems –fostering the transition from typists, stenographers and dataentry machine operators to information technology specialists

and a department nowknown as InformationTechnology Services(ITS).

NYSIF employs com-puter programmers andsystem service aideswho design, build andtroubleshoot customized

systems that enable a 2,500-strong workforce to executethousands of transactions statewide on behalf of many thou-sands of policyholders and claimants on a daily basis. Sys-tems designed by ITS allow NYSIF staff to share policy andclaims data instantaneously from one end of the state to theother. This functionality and flexibility has proven criticallyimportant to the Fund’s continuity of business operationsduring states of emergency that have forced business inter-ruption in one locale or another.

From the first generation IBM 7070 computer in 1960,Burroughs desktop terminals in 1980, state-of-the-art per-sonal computers at every NYSIF office, to smart phones andtablets used in the field today, technology has been a keycomponent of NYSIF’s long-range plan.

This includes a proprietary Claims HandlingSystem (CHS) and a Diary Assignment WorkNetwork to distribute assignments, controlworkflow and facilitate data sharing across theorganization. It includes automated systemsfor a host of NYSIF internal and external func-tions and a variety of online services that allow

From top: A partially-used bottle of writing inkand two variations of early adding machinesare part of NYSIF physical archives housed at199 Church Street; An IT staff photo in Albany,circa 1990; Data Entry MachineOperator Renita Waison in the 1980s.

customers to obtain workers’ compensationand disability benefits quotes, file claims and

payroll reports, pay premium bills, obtain certificates of insurance, track claims andcheck on the status of benefit payments. Medical providers also submit medical bills,monitor payments and retrieve explanations of benefits online.

IDG’s Computerworld magazine honored NYSIF’s Chief Information OfficerLinda Zafonte for exceptional technology leadership in 2012 as one of its Premier100 IT Leaders. Ms. Zafonte, ITS managers, and staff continue to transform and mod-ernize the Fund’s IT environment. Recent improvements include implementation ofa state-of-the-art data warehouse that facilitates predictive analytics models to aid inunderwriting, premium audit and field services decision-making. A new, secure e-Business platform allows authenticated online transactions, a key to future IT inno-vations benefiting both NYSIF staff and customers.


NYSIF Commissioner Rivka Chatman (24 years) andmembers of NYSIF Data & Systems Department look atcomputer-generated reports at 199 Church Street, 1989.

Information Technology Services staff in 2014 at NYSIFComputer Center, 8 Computer Drive, Albany, whichopened in 1990 as the base of NYSIF computer operations.


32

Inflation, recession and unem-ployment caused a decrease of$7.5 million in operating incomefor the Fund in 1974, althoughearned workers’ compensation premiumincreased by 6.6% to $124 million. Despitehaving 23% of the workers’ compensationmarket, the Fund experienced another de-crease in operating income in 1975. The

stable management of the previous decade, however, ce-mented NYSIF as one of the soundest insurance carriers inthe state, and it was able to weather a financial crisis that hitNew York hard in the mid-1970s. Not only did the Fund with-stand the crisis, but it also assisted the city and state whenboth teetered on the edge of bankruptcy.

Directed to invest a portion of its resources in the Munici-pal Assistance Corporation, the Fund planned a commitmentof $100 million, beginning with an initial purchase of $15million of NYC tax anticipatory notes. In December 1975,

Despite unemployment, rising inflationand a drop in NYSIF operating income,the Fund’s successful management overthe past decade makes it one of the moststable insurance carriers in New York.

1973-75 1976With the city and state in the depths of fiscalcrisis, NYSIF invests $715M over two yearsin MAC bonds and other state obligations;Gov. Hugh Carey proclaims that NYSIF“has reached a peak in public service.”

NYSIF purchased an additional $100 million of var-ious New York State agency obligations, helping tostave off their possible default. The following year,the Fund invested another $100 million in the mu-nicipal assistance corporations of NYC and Yonkers,

and $400 million for state agencies in need of assistance.Governor Hugh Carey stated, “the Fund had reached a peakin public service by public institutions during the past year.”

In 1978, Arnold Kideckel succeeded Mr. Millus as exec-utive director. The term workmen’s compensation was offi-cially changed to workers’ compensation in the law,recognizing the increased number of women in the work-force. As the state’s economy began to recover, the Fund ex-perienced a period of unprecedented growth. Workers’compensation policyholders reached 140,000 by 1979, whileearned premiumhad increased40% from 1978to $420 millionand workers’compensationfund assets in-creased 30% to$1.2 billion. As the Fund made plans to open a new office inHempstead, Long Island, it installed a fourth generation 6811Burroughs computer. It also renewed its membership in theAmerican Association of State Compensation InsuranceFunds (AASCIF).

1980sBy 1980, the Fund was writing over 32% of the workers’

compensation market in New York, an amount that more thandoubled that of its closest competitor. It upgraded to a fifthgeneration computer system in 1981 to increase efficiency forprocessing and managing information. Offices throughout thestate were provided immediate access to centrally stored pol-icy and claims information, eliminating thousands of dailymanual transactions. The Fund opened a Long Island districtoffice in Hempstead, Nassau County, its fifth, in 1982. Anewsletter for employees, The Reporter, made its debut, con-tinuing bi-monthly editions in print for 27 years through 2009.It continued uninterrupted publishing electronically in 2014.

Workers’ compensation fund assets exceeded $2 billionand policyholders increased to 148,000 by the end of 1983.A review by the State Legislature determined that the Fund


Mr. Millus

Mr. Millus returned to NYSIF for its 90th anniversary in2004, posing behind his old desk, which is preserved as partof the Fund’s archives; Top center: State Fund logo firstappearing in 1975.

‘NYSIF has reached apeak in public serviceby public institutions.’Former Governor Hugh L. Carey

»


NYSIF installs its firstBurroughs computer, with32 terminals, replacing afirst-generation, limitedcapacity IBM computer.

1980

had successfully met its mandate to pro-vide coverage at the lowest possible costwhile guaranteeing coverage would beavailable to all New York employers.

Computer upgrades allowed NYSIF tostreamline operations in several areas as itnow insured 1.26 million workers. Amongother improvements, billing processingwas reduced from 26 days to only eight,

while new claims and new accounts were opened in twodays.

More upgrades were made to keep pace with NYSIF’sgrowth. In 1984, it installed a state-of-the-art phone systemand a Burroughs A-3 7900H mainframe computer that in-creased processing power without reprogramming. It addeda laser printer that computed, coded, printed, collated andpackaged some 2,000 bills a day. NYSIF also published itsfirst newsletter for policyholders, Workers’ Comp. Advisor.It remains in publication today as an award winner for cov-erage of occupational safety issues.

In 1985, NYSIF purchased its office building in Hemp-stead. The following year, workers’ compensation policiesgrew to 181,781 while earned premium increased 35%. Aspecial dividend approved by the Board of Commissionersreturned $48 million to policyholders. The year marked Mar-tin Fischer’s 10th as chairman of NYSIF’s Board of Commis-sioners, under whom the board developed many policiesinstrumental to the Fund’s continued success. These included

annual independent auditing by one of the “Big Eight” ac-counting firms, an annual independent actuarial review ofreserves and the establishment of an internal audit division.

Renovations were completed in the Rochester district of-fice in 1987 and neared completion in the Albany and Hemp-stead offices. Salvatore R. Curiale succeeded ArnoldKideckel as executive director.

Mr. Kideckel

District managers of NYSIF’s first five district offices, circa 1984(l.-r.): Robert MacEwan (Rochester), Robert Sammons (Albany),Norman Greene (Hempstead), John Place (Syracuse), WilliamCribbs (Buffalo). A sixth district office, at 701Westchester Avenue, opened in White Plains in1988 with Grace Wilson (r.) serving as the firstfemale district manager. NYSIF relocated from879 Madison Avenue in Albany to 15 ComputerDrive West the same year. A seventh district of-fice opened in Hauppauge, Suffolk County, in1989. It closed in 1999 when the Hempsteadand Hauppauge offices consolidated in a mod-ern facility in Melville, LI, and were renamedthe Nassau and Suffolk offices, respectfully.

Computer upgrades throughout the ’80sstreamline operations, eliminatethousands of manual transactions andallow distributed mainframe printing offorms and reports at all offices.

1989

NYSIF’s computer room (above and top), circa 1989, occupiedalmost the entire 7th floor at 199 Church Street.

33

»


The Fund reached a high in workers’compensation policyholders in 1993 withmore than 199,000. Earned premium forthe workers’ compensation fund was $1.6billion, while the disability benefits fundhad earned premium of $22.6 million.Combined assets were $7.8 billion. A yearlater, the disability benefits fund reached arecord premium of $25.9 million.

Changing economic conditions and a hardening marketsaw a drop in policyholders andearned premium in 1995, a declinethat continued through the end of thedecade as NYSIF renewed its focuson customer service and anti-fraud ef-forts. DCI referred close to 100 casesto the New York State Insurance De-partment Frauds Bureau. NYSIF rec-ognized the hardship of premiumfraud for honest businesses and theenormous cost carried by the industry.Some $2.5 million in policyholderfraud brought before U.S. and state at-torneys general and a $13 million civilaction under the Racketeer Influencedand Corrupt Organizations Act(RICO) were among its first cases.

In 1996, a watershed event occurredfor New York workers’ compensationas businesses pressured legislators totake action against rising insurancecosts. As it happens with big issues, a

small event with which everyone could identify prompted ac-tion. In this case, it was Albany’s Arena Football Leagueteam, the Firebirds, forced to practice in Vermont so the teamcould afford workers’ compensation coverage.

Lawmakers finally passed landmark legislation signed byGovernor George Pataki to reform the workers’ compensa-tion system. The 1996 reforms led to an average 26% reduc-tion in rates over two years. Known as the New York StateEmployment, Safety and Security Act, the reforms repealedso-called Dole vs. Dow third party lawsuits for all but themost serious injuries and established Section 32 waiveragreements for negotiating final claims settlements. The actalso mandated workplace safety programs and strengthenedpenal laws making workers’ compensation fraud a felony, anarea where NYSIF played a lead role.

NYSIF’s one-millionthpolicy is a LexingtonAvenue bar and grill inNYC.

1991 1993

34

Ms. Norat

The number of workers’ compensationpolicies grew to 193,061 in 1988, repre-senting almost 40% of the market. Employ-ees grew in number to 2,500 as NYSIFopened its sixth district office in WhitePlains. Internal systems increased effi-ciency and productivity in many depart-ments. Installation of an A-17 UNISYSdual processor mainframe streamlined op-

erations. The Fund increased payroll audits and implementedautomated systems to assist actuarialestimating and Field Services staff as-signments.

After three years in development,tests began for an automated compen-sation payment system in 1989, with amedical bill payment system soon tofollow. NYSIF began offering cover-age for volunteer ambulance workersunder the new Volunteer AmbulanceWorkers’ Benefit Law, effective Janu-ary 1, 1989.

1990sCecilia E. Norat became the first fe-

male executive director of the Fund inAugust 1990. NYSIF was writing al-most 45% of the workers’ compensa-tion market in New York State withearned premium of $1.13 billion.

In 1990, NYSIF implemented its au-tomated compensation payment and itsautomated medical bill payment system two years later. Itopened a new computer center at 8 Computer Drive in theAlbany suburb of Colonie, while its Syracuse office relocatedfrom 901 James Street to a new building at 1045 7th NorthStreet in Liverpool, NY.

In February 1991, NYSIF wrote its one-millionth workers’compensation policy for Reins Restaurant and Bar in NYC.

The Fund began putting more resources into combating in-surance fraud in 1993, an effort that became increasingly im-portant throughout the decade and into the new century.NYSIF expanded its Division of Confidential Investigations(DCI) to include teams of investigators in New York, Buffaloand Albany, working closely with other NYSIF departments,government agencies, and local and national law enforcementto identify and prosecute workers’ compensation fraud.

Mr. Curiale

‘The Legislature’s intent inestablishing a State Fundfor workers’ compensationinsurance was to minimizethe impact of a mandatedcost of doing business andto guarantee a source ofinsurance to every employerregardless of risk. The StateInsurance Fund has fulfilledits legislative mandate inboth respects.’

1983 Legislative Commission onExpenditure Review

NYSIF insures the NY Jockey InjuryFund, covering jockeys and exerciseriders – and some 32,000 starts a yearat four thoroughbred racetracks – whenthey’re priced out of the private market.

»


In 1999, NYSIF had com-bined workers’ compensationand disability benefits premiumof $840 million and combinedassets of $8.7 billion. It also hadcompleted testing to ensure thatall Fund systems were ready forYear 2000 (Y2K) compliance.

The New MillenniumOn New Year’s Eve 1999,

some 75 employees throughout the State Insurance Fund re-ported to work to keep the notorious Y2K “bug” in check.Overnight, they monitored a smooth transition into the newmillennium, implementing procedures to assure computerand building systems operated properly. A state task force hadranked NYSIF workers’ compensation, disability benefitsand medical payment systems a number two priority among21 groups of essential services affected by Y2K compliance.

The successful Y2K conversion began in earnest in 1997with the promotion of Robert Sammons, Albany district man-ager since 1995, to Y2K project director. NYSIF retained a

The first full-color Reporter newsletter preparedstaff for big changes in 1998. A new logo (center)

ushered a new era of NYSIF marketing. Simpli-fied billing statement (below).

35

Henry Neal Conolly became NYSIF executive director in April 1997, tak-ing over for Marsha Orndorff, who had served as acting director followingMs. Norat’s departure in 1996. The opening of NYSIF’s Customer Call Cen-ter in Glendale Technology Park in Endicott, NY, a Binghamton suburb,was the highlight of 1996. Besides resolving issues for customers and med-ical providers, the center served as a testing ground for new programs andsystems. Several initiatives had their piloting phase at the center, includinga criteria-based automated bill paying system and a Provider Inquiry Projectto reduce a medical bill backlog. In addition, the center’s toll-free phonenumber for first report of injuries helped facilitate NYSIF’s early interven-tion program for claims handling.

That same month, NYSIF’s Board of Commissioners elected NYSIF Com-missioner Terence L. Morris as chairman. Mr. Morris, a well-respected Al-bany auto dealer whose NYSIF mantra was, “We don’t have to be thebiggest, but we will be the best,” reinforced the business-minded approach

to NYSIF operations shared by Mr. Conolly. Customerservice, technology, loss control, fraud prevention, com-petitive pricing, cross-functional training, teamwork, flex-ibility, accountability and responsibilitybecame the Fund’s buzz words. Workingwith NYSIF, a consulting firm helped im-plement a major reorganization of businessoperations.

Armed with new legislation makingfraud a felony and a new DCI director in

former prosecutor Laurence LaPointe, the Fund increased DCIstaff and became more aggressive, establishing NYSIF as astate and national leader in the fight against fraud. In 1998,nearly half of all New York State workers’ compensation fraudprosecutions resulted from NYSIF investigations.

The same year, NYSIF completed programming and im-plementation of a simplified billing system and statement, amulti-departmental project in response to policyholders’ rec-ommendations for an easier-to-read bill. It also instituted ateam approach for “cradle-to-grave” claims and policyholderservices. Other developments included “paperless” process-ing systems for automated medical bill paying and no-lost-time claims, and an automated safety group accountingsystem. These were followed by the creation of NYSIF’s firstwebsite, a Marketing Department and a new logo.

Near the end of the century, NYSIF added new computersand software to accommodate proprietary systems includinga Claims Handling System (CHS) and Loss Control Infor-mation System (LCIS). At 199 Church Street, NYSIF estab-lished four district offices to handle NYC policies and claimsas part of a re-engineering effort, and updated an investmentcenter for Investment staff.

Mr. Conolly

A

C

Past Due Date B

A

Past Due Date B

C

Workers’ compensation reformpassed by the State Legislaturemandates workplace safetyprograms and makes fraud afelony.

1996Workers’ compensation policies in theFund number more than 199,000, ahigh for the NYSIF century.

NYSIF Customer Service CallCenter opens in GlendaleTechnology Park, Endicott, NY.



36

Anti-fraud efforts since 1995: more than10,000 investigations, 1,780 arrests, and$230M in recoveries and estimated savings.

$230,000,000(Restitution, additional billed premium and estimated future savings.)

O ver a span of 20 years, the Division of Confidential (DCI) has a record that makesNYSIF a state and national leader in pursuing arrests and convictions of dishonest

businesses, claimants and medical providers who cheat the workers’ compensationsystem.

DCI receives critical assistance from NYSIF Claims, Underwriting, Premium Auditand ITS staffs, and works in cooperation with the Department of Financial Services,the Workers’ Compensation Board, regional and national law enforcement authorities,and state and federal agencies to fight workers’ compensation and disability benefitsfraud.

These efforts lead to millions in savings that help NYSIF fulfill its mandate and haveprompted major felony investigations of insurance fraud. Among them is the largest

premium fraud case in New York State history –more than $25 million – in 2010, and a $35 mil-lion medical provider fraud case in 2013. Inves-tigations have also led to hundreds of arrestsacross the state for NYSIF claimant fraud.

From top: NYSIF fraud public awareness adsappeared in media outlets statewide in 2013;Larry LaPointe (DCI director, 1998 - 2010)at one of many press conferences he attendedto announce arrests as a deterrent to fraud;Directors and supervising investigators onDCI staff in 2002.

Confidential Investigations


8 Computer Drive15 Computer Drive West

1045 7th North Street 225 Oak Street

project consultant and contracted programmers to help ITSstaff review and rewrite data fields. User testing and fullcompliance had occurred months before the stroke of mid-night on December 31, 1999.

The project – involving six million lines of code and ap-proximately 3,000 programs that interacted with 23 data-bases – required “an enormous team effort,” according to Mr.Sammons. Dozens of NYSIF employees from Albany andNYC ITS took an active role, among them: then-Data & Sys-tems Director Rama Eleswarapu, William Waage, RobertSuozzo, Judy Dearstyne, Sharon Tate, Eric Tapper, Tony Sci-pione, Laurie Endries, Craig Endries, Pam Talkovsky, Jian-liang Tan and David Brandt.

2000The Legislature unanimously passed an important bill in

2000, allowing NYSIF’s Investment division to invest in abroader range of stocks and bonds. Policyholders saw someof the lowest workers’ compensation rates in years, drivenby the 1996 reforms. NYSIF replaced the title of districtmanager with business manager and, likewise, district officewith business office.

NYSIF ITS developed internet-based programs giving pol-icyholders 24/7 online access to new electronic systems –First Report of Injury (NYSIF eFROI®) for submittingclaims, and eCERTS®, allowing them to create, print, e-mailand validate NYSIF certificates of insurance. Based on itsexperience with alternative return-to-work models, theClaims Department was selected by the Hospital for JointDiseases Occupational and Industrial Orthopaedic CenterModel Clinic for an international multi-disciplinary treatmentstudy for claimants with non-specific lower back pain.

2001NYSIF underwent a smooth transition of leadership in

2001. Chief Operating Officer Kenneth J. Ross, a deputy ex-ecutive director since 1996, succeeded Mr. Conolly as exec-utive director. To strengthen the disability benefits (DB) fund,NYSIF introduced criteria-based return of premium pro-grams, dedicated policy and claims teams to improve cus-tomer service and bound most coverage within 24 hours.Earned DB premium almost doubled from the previous yearto more than $20 million. The Fund also introduced two serv-ices for workers’ compensation claimants – Electronic FundsTransfer of weekly benefit payments, and a pharmacy bene-fits management program.

19981997 NYSIF’s website atwww.nysif.commakes its debut.

The Binghamton district officeopens in the same building asthe call center at 2001 PerimeterRoad East in Endicott.

8 Corporate Center Drive

100 Chestnut St.

NYSIF Offices 2014

NYSIF office succession from1988 (historical notes by for-mer Rochester District Man-

ager Robert MacEwan from a 1986 memo): 1988: Albany officemoves from 879 Madison Ave. to 15 Computer Dr. West. 1990:Computer Center opens at 8 Computer Dr., Albany. 1991: Aftermost of two decades, Syracuse office moves from 901 James St.to 1045 7th North St. (Prior to James Street, the office was locatedat 501 Erie Blvd. West. Branch office managed by D.E. Foley openedin Binghamton in 1938 or ’39.) 1994: With over 20 years at 161Delaware Ave., the Buffalo office moves to 225 Oak Street. (Branchoffice managed by J.V. Smith opened in Olean in 1941 or ’42.)1992: After 33 years at 24 Plymouth Ave. North, the Rochester of-fice leases space at 100 Chestnut St. (Branch office managed byEdward W. Brown opened in Elmira in 1940.) 1996: NYSIF expandsoperations in NYC to 111 8th Ave., closing in 2000. 1998: Bing-hamton office opens at 2001 Perimeter Rd. East (top); Administra-tive office opens at 1 WatervlietAve. Ext., Albany (r). 1999: LIoffices (Nassau/Suffolk) moveto 8 Corporate Center Dr.,Melville. 2002: White Plainsoffice moves from 701 Westch-ester Ave. to 105 CorporateCenter Dr.

Albany and Administrative officesswapped buildings in 2006

105 Corporate Center Drive


»

37


Using the Claims Handling System, NYSIF began sharing claims information elec-tronically with the Workers’ Compensation Board’s eCase File, leading to improvedclaims handling and a reduction of paperwork and phone calls between the two agencies.With CHS fully implemented, Claims staff had quick access to claims data on their com-puter screens, expediting case management and, more importantly, ushering the era ofpaperless claims processing at NYSIF offices statewide. With Mr. Sammons now head-ing Claims – joined by an 18-year NYSIF attorney, Edward Hiller, as co-director – theconversion to a paperless system was crucial to continuing critical operations in theaftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001,when the Fund lost use of its offices at 199 Church Street (seven blocks from the TwinTowers and Ground Zero) and did not return at full strength for 15 days.

NYSIF Church Street staff evacuated after the collapse of the trade center’s southtower and before the collapse of the north tower. “We had everyone out within min-

utes,” then-Director of Administration Albert DiMeglio said.Soon after the attack, NYSIF’s building became a temporarycommand post for first responders. When Mr. Ross turned thekey over to a police captain, Mr. DiMeglio said he believed“that was the first time weever totally closed thebuilding since it opened in1955.” Later that day mediacrews began stationing theirvans on Church between

Duane and Thomas streets, directly in front ofthe State Fund. A television station reportedan “Insurance Fund club” was serving sand-wiches and coffee to emergency workers. Infact, local businesses and residents broughtfood to the lobby for emergency personnel.

With power shut down to most of lower Manhattan, 199 Church Street had noelectricity or telephone service and, with building pumps inoperable, a rising floodin the engine room of the sub-basement the next day. On site that morning, Mr.DiMeglio and maintenance staff diverted water away from critical mechanicalsystems, using bags of gravel and reams of paper until arranging for a portablegenerator to pump water out.

In the ensuing days, Mr. Ross directed the transfer of personnel, equipment andcase files to NYSIF district offices, ordered the establishment of special units andtelephone hotlines to handle claims stemming from the attack and oversaw thesafe accounting of each NYC staff member. Network computers and new elec-tronic systems, specifically CHS and eCERTS®, made it possible to provide un-interrupted service to claimants, policyholders and medical providers. NYSIFemerged from the tragedy with the knowledge that its preparedness, thanks to in-dustrious work by its staff, not only in the moment, but also in previous years, al-lowed it to continue to serve customers without disruption under the worst ofcircumstances.

From top, r.: First responders usedNYSIF’s lobby as a command postafter the attacks; Like much ofdowntown, Church and Chambersstreets were closed except for authorized vehicles and personnel(limited NYSIF staff showed workpasses to enter the area); Noticeson NYSIF exterior wall offeredrespite for rescue workers; Mediacamped outside 199 Church Street.

20012000Black car livery driversinsure as a group forthe first time, choosingNYSIF.

Most NYSIF offices meet the targetdate of this internal poster (l.) andare “paperless” by June 1, 2001, agoal proving critical to operations inthe aftermath of September 11th.

Mr. Ross


38


39

In 2001, our logowas a welcome iconfor claimants inArizona in thechaotic days after9/11. The StateInsurance Fund hasreceived countlessletters thanking stafffor customer serviceover 100 years, butnone more poignantthan this one, datedSeptember 17, 2001.

‘Words cannot describe the feelingof patriotism and pride we felthere in Arizona when we openedour mailbox and saw your icon...’


40

Against an altered skyline where the Twin Towers once stood, this rooftop photo at 199 Church Street in 2004 included staffwhose efforts helped NYSIF sustain operations, assist victims’ families and account for evacuated staff after 9/11 (fromleft): Customer Service Rep II James Jaeger, Security Captain John Caiafa, Building Superintendent Dave Thomas, recep-tionist Maria Rivera, Executive Director Ken Ross, Data Processing Systems Manager Chris Glorius, Director of Adminis-tration Albert DiMeglio and Director of Financial Services Joseph Mullen. Messrs. DiMeglio, Glorius, Jaeger and Mullenreceived commendations from NYSIF’s Board of Commissioners.

September 11th marked the single worst workplace disaster inAmerican history. The attacks at the World Trade Center claimed2,753 victims. Five NYSIF employees lost family members.

2002-2003In 2002, NYSIF devoted more time and resources to staff devel-

opment. Statewide staff training totaled more than 3,000 hours in80 different courses. Renovations to 199 Church Street’s 15th floorturned the old Public Service Commission hearing room into a newConference and Training Center, featuring a state-of-the-art audi-torium with conference and classroom space. The Fund namedthree regional directors, John Massetti (NYC), Christopher Barclay(upstate) and Michael Bart (Long Island), to work with businessmanagers to develop strategies addressing the needs of businessesin each region. The following year, NYSIF introduced eQUOTE,an automated quote and application system, and other systems al-lowing customers to view premium statements, review account ac-tivity and make credit card payments online. Online claimsmonitoring through CONNECTS (Clients on Net NYSIF Elec-tronic Claims Tracking System) became available to all policyhold-ers, and for the first time NYSIF eFROI® allowed policyholders tofile claims electronically with the Workers’ Compensation Board.

»

A New York Post photo, published 9/11/02, showed theproximity of Ground Zero to NYSIF’s Church Street location(white building, rear left).



41

sions to provide safetytraining to assureds. AllNYSIF field reps enhancedtheir credentials as safetyand loss control specialistsby completing a 30-hourOSHA general industrytraining course. Several alsocompleted a training pro-gram to become OSHA-au-thorized outreach trainersqualified to conduct OSHAcourses on standards andcompliance for businessowners, supervisors and

workers. Keeping the focus on safety, NYSIF ex-panded safety resources on nysif.com and utilizedtraining tools such as PowerPoint presentations andDVDs to help employers establish and maintain asafety culture and successful safety programs. Re-flecting its successful loss control efforts, NYSIF’sloss experience was re-included in New York work-ers’ compensation rates for the first time in 47 yearsstarting with the October 1, 2005 rate filing.

NYSIF’s Legal Department had a strong voice inwinning a successful extension of the Terrorism RiskInsurance Act (TRIA), federal backstop insurancefor catastrophic acts of foreign terrorism that was set

to expire at year’s end. The department also issued a compre-hensive policy statement governing internal fraud, waste andabuse, and re-emphasizing compliance issues, corporate gov-ernance and integrity. In December, former Workers’ Com-pensation Board Chairman David P. Wehner succeeded KenRoss as executive director. Christopher Barclay and DouglasHayden served as interim co-directors for a brief period.

2006Customer service and anti-fraud initiatives made signifi-

cant strides in 2006. NYSIF’s website offered safety re-sources and publications in Spanish for the first time andautomated printing of C-105 Certificates of Compliance. Thewebsite also offered an expanded medical bill inquiry sys-tem, contact information for case managers and underwriters,and improved vendor access for investigations, independentmedical exams and procurement opportunities.

DCI totaled 148 fraud arrests and $17 million in restitutionand estimated savings, an amount commonly including pre-

2002In 2001, NYSIF eFROI®and eCERTS® contributegreatly to uninterruptedcustomer service in thewake of the terror attacks.

Then...Now...Always

NYSIF marketing piece (top and left)announced eCERTS® in 2000, oneof the systems that provided essentialservices after 9/11. Above, right:NYSIF created and trademarked thislogo and slogan as host fund for theAASCIF ’02 annual conferenceincluding workers’ compensationfunds and boards from the US,Canada and Puerto Rico.

applicable local, state and federal rules and regulations. Newfeatures on the website included a self-starter kit for all em-ployers interested in implementing Return-to-Work programs.

The Claims Department began using a new system forrecording accidents and injuries to help identify claim trends,ensure proper treatment, process medical bills more accu-rately, fight fraud and assist policyholders with federal injuryreporting requirements. Claims automation at this point in-cluded electronic systems to process medical bills, scheduleindependent medical examinations, initiate investigations,image important documents into appropriate case files andlink unmatched correspondence to the correct electronic file.An online paperless Fiscal Management Information Systemreplaced the old accounting system, offering superior internalaccounting and auditing for cash management, purchasingand accounts payable and receivable.

2005NYSIF increased outreach efforts focusing on workplace

safety. Specifically, the Fund teamed with the OccupationalSafety and Health Administration (OSHA) on several occa- »

Claims and Policyholder Services teams received cross-training in a NYSIF course titled, “Life of a Claim,” de-signed to reduce the claims life cycle and promote accuratecase reserves through coordinated early claims resolution.

2004NYSIF observed its 90th anniversary in 2004, ending the

year with combined premium of $1.65 billion and combinedassets of $10.9 billion. NYSIF also established the first

Legal ComplianceCommittee amongstate funds in thenation to ensure pro-cedures and employ-ees adhered to all

NYSIF goes forward with plans to host theAmerican Association of State CompensationInsurance Funds (AASCIF) annual conferencejust 11 months after 9/11, with the theme“Open for Business – Against All Odds.”


mium billed after identifying businessesthat underreport payroll or the nature oftheir operations. A New York Times articlequoted industry observers who agreedNYSIF set a standard for audits that un-covered payroll gaps of this type.

NYSIF had an important role in threenew laws extending workers’ compensa-tion benefits to Ground Zero cleanup andrescue workers and accidental death ben-efits for 9/11-related illnesses to familiesof uniformed services personal. “We couldnot have crafted this legislation withoutthe partnership of NYSIF and the Work-

ers’ Compensation Board,” GovernorPataki’s chief of staff said.

Following a long illness, Chairman Mor-ris died at age 62. Vice Chairman RobertH. Hurlbut, a NYSIF commissioner since1989, succeeded him as chairman.

2007Historic workers’ compensation reforms

adopted by the New York State Legislaturein March raised benefit levels for injured workers for the firsttime in more than a decade. They also capped weekly benefitpayments based on loss of wage earning capacity for newcases of permanent partial disability and addressed severalissues to ease premium rates for employers. New York en-acted the single largest average workers’ compensation ratedecrease since 1975.

NYSIF announced an average 18.4% rate decrease forworkers’ compensation policyholders, effective October 1,2007. Approximately 116,000 NYSIF policyholders receiveda total of $80 million in rate reductions directed by the NewYork State Insurance Department, including advanced pre-mium adjustments of approximately $75.5 million for 72,000policyholders.

NYSIF also implemented a 20% decrease in disability ben-efits rates, effective January 1, issued total premium creditsin excess of $4 million for qualifying smaller DB policyhold-ers and a 50% credit based on claims performance for DBpolicies over $1,000 in premium. For the fifth straight year,the average dividend for workers’ compensation safetygroups increased to 27.7%.

DCI cases resulted in a record year for NYSIF fraud ar-

Mr. Wehner

rests, 158, with restitution and estimatedsavings of $17.4 million. NYSIF’s anti-fraud program surpassed the 1,000 markin total arrests since 1996.

An electronic new business system andpolicy file for processing, imaging, index-ing and assigning all policy-related workled to increased efficiency and further re-duction of paper files. Hundreds of poli-cyholders across the state attendedNYSIF educational forums on cost-effec-tive ways to maintain a safe workplace,minimize injuries and expedite claimsresolution for the good of both employers

and employees.

NYSIF dedicated its conference and training center to for-mer Chairman Terence L. Morris.

2008Fraud investigations led to 148 arrests and a record $20.7

million in restitution and estimated savings. NYSIF intro-duced eCHECK, an online service giving workers’ compen-sation and disability benefits policyholders a quick, easyoption to make premium payments electronically. With morethan 300 safety resources and other educational materialsavailable to any visitor, nysif.com won an AASCIF Commu-nications Award as a top industry website.

Joined by the Department of Civil Service, NYSIF hostedforums in Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Long Island,Rochester and Syracuse for New York State employees from36 agencies encompassing 89 regional offices to address

Chairman Morris, here with Legal Secretary Jacqueline Stanford(36 years), visited employees in 2001 to wish them happy holidays.

Joining a chorus of insurance industrysupporters, NYSIF urges Congress foran 11th hour extension of the TerrorismRisk Insurance Act, illustrated inNYSIF’s Workers’ Comp. Advisor.

2004Sunsetfor TRIA?

Hard Market Economic Impact LoomsWith Time Running Out On Terrorism RiskInsurance Act

Hard Market Economic Impact LoomsWith Time Running Out On Terrorism RiskInsurance Act

Sunsetfor TRIA?

Photo composite:Guillermo Blanco/NYSIF

A potential insurancecrisis looms as theTerrorism RiskInsurance Act of 2002approaches sunset onDecember 31, 2005

NYSIF leads state funds in anti-terrorism by crosschecking datawith the Office of Foreign AssetsControl, yielding one OFACmatch. Other funds follow suit.

2005

»

‘I thank NYSIF fortaking a lead role tohelp stop individualswho support terrorists.’

2004 letter from State SenateHomeland Security Chair

Michael Balboni to NYSIFGeneral Attorney Doug Hayden

42


43

claims issues including new legislative requirements,hearings, return-to-work programs and the CivilService Accident Reporting System. The forumswere held in response to a New York State initiativefor more inter-agency cooperation. The Fund alsoheld a seminar for safety group managers, represent-ing thousands of employers, on new Workers’ Com-pensation Board adjudication procedures known asthe “rocket docket,” aimed at streamlining the claims process.

2009NYSIF celebrated its 95th anniversary in

a year that saw two changes in executiveleadership when JamesJ. Wrynn, who replacedMr. Wehner as execu-tive director in April,left to become Superin-tendent of Insurance. In

July, Francine James succeeded Mr.Wrynn as NYSIF’s chief executive. Gov-ernor David A. Paterson and NYSIF’sBoard of Commissioners honored Chair-man Robert H. Hurlbut for 20 years ofservice to the board.

NYSIF began a five-year, enterprise-wide technologymodernization project of NYSIF hardware and software sys-tems. Led by a strategic Information Technology Servicesteam, the project entailed switching from outdated main-frames to web-based servers in an effort to provide more in-teractive and cost-effective ways of doing business forNYSIF and customers. A claims module upgrade in the firstyear improved automation of electronic claims filing, recordcreation and management.

Cost containment remained the underlying theme as

NYSIF emphasized its safetymessage to employers, urging co-operative claims and risk manage-ment. NYSIF lowered minimumannual premium for statutory dis-ability benefits policies to $60 –its lowest level in 20 years.

2010-2014New York had been faced with one of its more challenging

economies in decades when new leadership in Albany underGovernor Andrew M. Cuomo began to stabilize state fi-nances, stimulate economic growth and provide a more re-

sponsive government. New York passedfour successive on-time budgets, tax relieffor property owners and businesses, andimplemented an economic developmentpackage creating thousands of jobs.

NYSIF was ready to support the gover-nor’s “New York Works” agenda of eco-nomic policies leading to billions ininvestments for the state, including high techprivate sector jobs and a new Tappan ZeeBridge, which began construction in 2013.

In 2010, as industry loss costs rose, NYSIF introduced aPreferred Risk Participation Plan for safety-minded employ-ers. For many years, NYSIF guaranteed cost plans offeredworkers’ compensation policyholders tiered, experience-based discounts. Under the new plan qualified employerscould receive an advanced discount of 20% and potential re-turn of 49% of discounted premium calculated 12 monthsafter the policy period.

NYSIF also lowered its statutory disability benefits insur-ance rate to a gender neutral $0.14 per $100 of payroll. Since1950, NYSIF had offered statutory disability benefits insur-ance and now introduced enriched disability benefits offeringa range of increased benefit levels to insure employees foroff-the-job injuries at the same low rate. NYSIF DB policiesreached a record 61,857 in 2010.

The Fund hosted insurance brokers at 199 Church Streetto discuss underwriting criteria, audit preparation and otherways for employers to limit liability. NYSIF implemented avoluntary Recommendation of Care (ROC) program througha medical provider network offering up to 15% savings oncost-driving claims medical expenses. Claims personnel,meanwhile, completed training to implement Workers’ Com-

2006Taking a lead role, the Fundis cited for helping to draftthree laws extending benefitsfor 9/11 recovery workers.

2007-08NYSIF’s anti-fraud program has back-to-backrecord-setting years – 158 arrests in 2007, and$20.7 million in restitution, additional billed premium and estimated savings in 2008.

NEW YORK STATE INSURANCE FUND

FeaturingSTATUTORY COVERAGE

AND ENRICHEDDISABILITY BENEFITS

Low-Cost

Insurance

nysif.comN E W Y O R K S T A T E I N S U R A N C E F U N D

Workers’ Compensation & Disability Benefits Specialist since 1914

‘We could not havecrafted this legislationwithout the partnershipof NYSIF.’

Statement from the ExecutiveChamber regarding laws helping

9/11 recovery workers, 2006

Leading the industry,NYSIF cut minimumstatutory disabilitybenefits insurance ratesto a 20-year low in2009; In 2010 NYSIFintroduced enriched DBcoverage, lowering ratesto $0.14 per $100 ofpayroll. A record 61,857employers had NYSIFDB policies.

Now, select the coverage

Employers in New York State can offer to their workers

rates.

New or existing NYSIFDB policyholders can opt for

o Y Employers in New

ferork State can of ffer

rates.

p y

to their workers

t f

New or existing NYS

IFDB policyholders can

opt for

»

Ms. James

Mr. Wrynn


44

2009NYSIF introduces eCHECK,allowing customers to paytheir policy premiumselectronically.

cyholders received a total of $1.18 million in premium cred-its to reconcile payroll report adjustments. Another $2.6 mil-lion in disability benefits insurance refunds and credits wereissued to more than 37,000 employers in 2012, the 13th

straight year of DB premium credits forqualified policyholders. Average dividendsto workers’ compensation safety grouppolicyholders grew for an eighth straightyear to 30.5%.

As part of its modernization project,NYSIF implemented a state-of-the-artBusiness Intelligence Platform for enter-prise information and performance metricsto enable predictive analysis in NYSIF underwriting, pre-mium audit and claims functions. The platform supported asecure authentication and e-signature process that expandedonline payroll reporting for policyholders, representing amilepost for future secured online transactions. The Fundcompleted successful replacement of the legacy mainframesystems with server web-based systems along several projecttracks that, by 2014, included compensation payments, med-ical bill audit and payments, policy administration, and dis-ability benefits payments. The conversion of documents toelectronic files at NYSIF’s Document Control Center in Al-bany led to annual cost savings by capturing policy andclaims data, and making storage and access more efficient.

The technology-driven focus on customer service led to the launch ofNYSIF Facebook and Twitter sites in 2012. This enabled a stream of no-tifications for staff and customers about office closings, redeployment,payment extensions and suspension of policy cancellations in the after-math of Superstorm Sandy. Similar courtesies were extended a year earlierto farms and businesses affected by Hurricane Irene and Tropical StormLee. During Sandy, the Fund lost power at its NYC and Long Island of-fices for one week, prompting activation of its Continuity of OperationsPlan. Using its computer network and dedicated and redeployed staff atother locations, the Fund continued critical account services and pay-ments unabated, much as it had after 9/11.

Governor Cuomo introducedmajor reforms to the workers’compensation system with theBusiness Relief Act of 2013, pro-jecting $800 million in savings forNew York employers. Amongother provisions, the law changedthe methodology for Workers’

nysif.com

NEW YORK STATE INSURANCE FUND

Wo r k e r s ’ C o m p.

LARGEST PREMIUM FRAUD INDICTMENTLARGEST PREMIUM FRAUD INDICTMENT

nysif.comADVISORADVISOR

July, August, September 2010July, August, September 2010

*Underwriting 101 - Discounts, Safety

Group Dividends

*Audit Tips - What You Don’t Know

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*Managing Risk - NYSIF Action Plans

*Enriched DB - Best Price In Town

*Underwriting 101 - Discounts, Safety

Group Dividends

*Audit Tips - What You Don’t Know

Can Hurt You

*Claims - How to Limit Liability

*Managing Risk - NYSIF Action Plans

*Enriched DB - Best Price In Town

Chief Deputy Executive Director Francine James (top) led the 2010 brokers’ forum in NYC, where NYSIF staff (from left) including Claims Director Edward

Hiller, Underwriting Operations Mgr. James Kennedy and Lower Manhattan Business Mgr. Sherwin Taylor (photo r., l.) met client representatives

It’s all about

Saving Money

for Clients!

It’s all about

Saving Money

for Clients!NYSIF 2010

Brokers’ ForumNYSIF 2010

Brokers’ Forum

Emphasizing cost containment,Chief Executive Francine James leda 2010 brokers’ forum on limitingemployers’ liability, as covered inthe Workers’ Comp. Advisornewsletter (l.).

Mr. Hayes

pensation Board Medical Treatment Guidelines, effective De-cember 1, 2010, that established treatment standards for knee,shoulder, neck, and mid- and lower-back injuries.

An indictment was returned in a $25 million premium fraudcase initiated by NYSIF, which remains the largest workers’compensation fraud case in New York State to date. The caseended in conviction, a reparation order of $5 million and fiveyears’ probation for the defendant.

“The New York State Insurance Fund has faced many chal-lenges to deliver consistently on a mandate to make workers’compensation and disability benefits insurance available toany employer doing business in New York,” GovernorCuomo noted in NYSIF’s 2010 annual report. “Even in ourstate’s most difficult times, the Fund has remained a reliableand trusted source in the workers’ compensation market as aself-sufficient, competitive insurance carrier.”

Governor Cuomo named Dennis J. Hayes as NYSIF’s chiefexecutive on July 1, 2011. Ms. James continued with the Fundas secretary to the Board of Commissioners. Dozens of safetygroup managers and their claims staffs participated inNYSIF’s first webinar, a step-by-step demonstration of filingan electronic First Report of Injury/Illness, followed by aQ&A session. Claims-based programs returned a combined$5.44 million in disability benefits premium credits to ap-proximately 67% of DB policyholders, and 12,133 DB poli-

»

NYSIF’s 2009 annual report marksthe Fund’s 95th anniversary andwins an AASCIF CommunicationsAward.

2008


Compensation Board assess-ments, resulting in one unified as-sessment for all businesses. It alsoprovided for the closure of theFund for Reopened Cases andSpecial Disability Fund, transfer-ring liability to individual insur-ance carriers and employers,respectively. It eased limits onNYSIF to invest a percentage ofsurplus in American institutionsregardless of debt rating, and in-creased minimum weekly bene-fits from $100 to $150 for injuryclaims.

New York State Police and DCIbegan a Drug Diversion TaskForce, leading to arrests ofclaimants and medical providersfor illegal sales of opioids pre-scribed for workers’ compensation injuries. NYSIF rolled outa new automated process to request a quote, submit a com-pleted application with an electronic signature, pay depositpremium and bind disability benefits insurance online.Claims staff prepared for mandatory electronic reporting forworkers’ compensation claims in 2014, as required by theWorkers’ Compensation Board.

NYSIF lost three active members in 2013: Commissionerand former Chairman Robert H. Hurlbut in March, ViceChairman and Acting Chair H. Sidney Holmes, III, in April,and Executive Director Dennis J. Hayes in December.

Earned workers’ compensation pre-mium set a NYSIF record of more than$2.2 billion. Combined assets for the work-ers’ compensation fund and disability bene-fits fund were $16.5 billion as of December31, 2013.

The Fund began 2014 with new leader-ship. In January, the Board of Commis-sioners elected Kenneth R. Theobalds, a

board member since 2008 and a former NYSIF deputy ex-ecutive director, as chairman. Governor Cuomo named EricMadoff, former chief of staff of the Department of FinancialServices, as executive director.

On March 5, 2014, The National Association of InsuranceCommissioners ranked NYSIF the sixth largest workers’

45

compensation carrier inAmerica. With a 36%market share, NYSIFremained number onein New York, well positioned to serve future generations.

Today, NYSIF maintains its commitment to provide timely,appropriate benefits to claimants, and ensure a stable, fair mar-ket for workers’ compensation and disability benefits insur-ance – backed by the cumulative expertise acquired over 100years of public service.

Mr. Madoff

‘NYSIF has faced manychallenges to deliver consistentlyon a mandate to make workers’compensation and disabilitybenefits insurance available toany employer in New York. Evenin our state’s most difficult times,the Fund remained a reliable,trusted source in the workers’comp. market as a self-sufficient,competitive insurance carrier.’

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, 2010NYSIF Annual Report

2012Newly established Facebookand Twitter accounts aid theflow of information forNYSIF staff and customersduring Superstorm Sandy.

2013The Business Relief Act of 2013brings major reforms to workers’compensation, part of a series ofinitiatives by Governor Cuomo.

100th anniversary banner

The Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition’s 103rd memorial on March25, 2014 recalls the victims. An effort is underway for a permanentmemorial at the site, which is now part of New York University.


NYSIF dividends paid to its workers’compensation safety groups since1923, averaging 25% over 80 years.

$3,776,050,759(Estimate)

Since workers’ compensation law placed the respon-sibility for insurance to cover workplace injuries

and illnesses on employers, businesses essentiallyhave been responsible for the safety of theirworkers. It was this responsibility and the costof maintaining insurance that made employersmore conscious of safety in reducing the hazards ofindustrial accidents. In 1923, NYSIF introduced an in-novative program – safety groups – for safety consciousemployers. Safety groups allow employers in the same indus-try to pool their insurance premiums in groups that focus onworkplace safety and claims management. Many employershave saved considerable costs through NYSIF safety groupssince then.

In the past two years, NYSIF paid nearly $270 million individends to safety groups. That number climbsover $3.7 billion since 1923. In 2014, NYSIF in-sured 110 safety groups. Qualifying policyholdersalso receive up-front discounts. Many groups haveremained with the Fund for decades and have con-sistent dividend histories. Group managers, chosenby group members, include insurance brokers, riskmanagers and trade associations. LovellSafety Management manages the longestactive group, Launderers and CleanersGroup 34. Here is a brief history of sev-eral group managers.

Lovell Safety ManagementFor over seven decades, Lovell Safety

Management Co., LLC, has provided se-cure, comprehensive workers’ compensa-tion solutions for New York employers.Lovell Safety is the oldest and largestgroup manager in the State InsuranceFund, with cumulative savings of morethan $1 billion for members.

Jac M. Lovell, an attorney for theCleaners and Dyers Board of Trade, founded Lovell Safety in1936. Since his retirement in 1970, it has successfully contin-ued under his son, Stephen, and now, his grandson, Barry. Thecompany handles the workers’ compensation needs of morethan 3,600 companies and tens of thousands of employees. Arange of underwriting, claims, accounting and safety serviceshas enabled members to control workers’ compensation costsand directly improve their bottom lines.

NY Farm Bureau Safety Group 486A group of farmers who were members of the NewYork Farm Bureau established Safety Group 486

in 1967. Their goal was to offer the membersof the New York Farm Bureau access to afford-

able workers' compensation coverage that alsoprovided the tools to promote the importance of

safety to those in the agricultural industry.

Since its inception, Safety Group 486 has grown to coverover 2,600 agricultural operations. From dairy operations tofruit and vegetable farms, it now covers almost every type ofagricultural operation, including wineries, farm brewers anddistillers. We look forward to sustained growth as the agri-cultural industry in NewYork continues to diver-

Safety Groups

From top: Earliest known NYSIF logo,circa 1972; Farm Bureau Safety Group486 member at work; Launderers andCleaners Group 34 at an annual divi-dend meeting, circa 1994; Safety paidbig dividends for a Levitt-FuirstAssociates’ safety group, circa 1988.

46


sify. Members of the New York Farm Bu-reau Safety Group 486 value the expertiseand guidance of those within the NewYork State Insurance Fund. We wishNYSIF a happy 100th anniversary and con-tinued growth over the next 100 years.

Hamond Safety ManagementHamond Safety Management has had

the pleasure to be associated with NYSIFfor over 23 years and had the privilege ofworking with some verytalented people duringthis time. We originallybegan our workers’ com-pensation business 56years ago before webegan our relationshipwith NYSIF. We knewfrom our first meetingwith State Fund manage-ment that NYSIF was thebest place for our clients.

Paul Garritan, our executive vicepresident, began his career at NYSIFsome 35 years ago. He often regaled uswith fond memories of people heworked with during his tenure at theFund. During that time, Herbert Jacobswas director of Underwriting and Mor-ris Jacobs was director of Claims Ad-ministration. Computers were boxyterminals used by the underwriters tolook up policies while claims employ-ees documented all compensation pay-ments in writing on the actual claimfile. Separate color-coded cards weresent to the Audit Department for ap-proval. The final step, recording thepayment on a 3x5 index card, allowedthe claims examiner to “keep tabs” onpayments made on each case. Therehave been improvements and chal-lenges through the years, and we have been proud to be a partof the NYSIF family all along.

– Saul B. Hamond, Hamond Safety Management President

The Flanders GroupFounded by Chris McVicker in 1981, the Flanders Group

name comes from Flanders, Belgium, where commercial in-surance originated. Flanders’ logo is a rampant lion on theshield of the Count of Flanders. This is the basis for the com-pany’s motto, “A Pride of Insurance Experts.”

The agency focuses on six markets that started in real estatewith the creation of the Real Estate Owners and Managers

Safety Group 512 in 1987. In 1989, itadded Marinas and Recreational BoatSales/Service Safety Group 517, withan endorsement by the Empire StateMarine Trades Association. The NewYork State Automobile and Recre-ational Vehicle Dealers Safety Group563 followed in 1994.

New York State Horticulture/Flori-culture Industries Safety Group 453,with an endorsement by the New YorkState Nursery Landscape Association,came about in April 1998. In May ofthat year, Flanders entered the machineshop and metal working industries withSelect Manufacturers’ Association ofNew York, Inc., Safety Group 572. Itslatest group, Select Waste Industry As-sociation of New York Safety Group

579 began in 2006 and focuses on refuse haulers and recy-clers.

Congratulations to NYSIF on 100 years of service to thebusiness owners of New York State.

Friedlander GroupFriedlander Group President Adam Friedlander and his

team, including Executive Vice President Cosmo Preiato,formed the first of seven safety groups in 1992. Since then,their members have saved more than $300 million in dis-counts and averaged dividends of 32% in the retail, whole-sale, restaurant, hotel, oil dealers, home healthcare andresidential care industries.

Top, l: NYSIF’s Mary L. Angarano presenteda 75th anniversary plaque to G.C.G. ScrapIron and Steel Safety Group 88 Chair SteveKowalsky, joined by the late-George Stantonof Roth Steel in 2012; Flanders Grouppresented NYSIF dividend checks to RudinManagement Co. (above) and GrenadierReal Estate Corp. (left) in 1996.

47

NYSIF Top 10Safety Group Managers

Lovell Safety ManagementKeevily-Spero-Whitelaw, Inc.The Durnan GroupThe Flanders GroupHamond Safety ManagementFriedlander GroupAuto Dealers Association Group 430Levitt-Fuirst AssociatesNew York Farm Bureau Group 486G.C.G. Risk Management


NYSIF People

Retirement photo at 199 Church Street, 2004.

25th annual breakfast gathering, 1963.


49

2014

From left: Executive Director Eric Madoff, Chief Fiscal Officer Nancy Reuss, General Attorney WilliamO’Brien, Deputy Director Shirley Stark, Deputy Director and Chief of Staff Dorothy Carey, Assistant DeputyDirector Robert Sammons, Secretary to the Board of Commissioners Francine James

Soon after graduating from SUNY Oswego with a degree in ac-counting in August 1980 I started working at NYSIF. My mother, whoworked for Tax and Finance, encouraged me to take civil serviceexams while in college. I remember coming in for the interview onMadison Avenue in Albany, NY. There were two openings, one in Pre-mium Audit and the other in Audit & Review. I listened to both su-pervisors and Walt Webster asked, “Which one do you want?” Beinga kid and not knowing much about either, I opted for the one thatwould take me on the road.Joe Silio was my first supervisor. All premium audit supervisors

were located in NYC and rotated every 18 months. The Fund beganplacing supervisors in local offices in the mid-80s. In 1987, I wasthe first audit supervisor in Albany. After nine years, Bob Sammonsselected me for a project team designing the call center in Endicott.In 1997, I became the first call center manager. What an excitingtime! We were building a state-of-the-art call center, providing helpand solutions for NYSIF operations. I left the Southern Tier for roles in Albany and NYC: managing

collections from the Special Funds Conservation Committee asspecial assistant to the CFO (Susan Sharp); statewide coordinatorof End User Testing with Joel Clair (for the Payroll Audit Systemand laptops for auditors); director of Receivable Management,working with Jeff Epstein and Randy Johnson; director of InternalAudit, and back to upstate supervisor of Premium Audit.Like all great institutions, it’s the people who make NYSIF

special. I have mentioned a few, but there were many who, inmy opinion, left an indelible mark on the Fund. To name a fewmore: Director of Administration Albert DiMeglio, Buffalo Busi-

Stalwarts: Buffalo SecretaryFlorence McNerney (57 yearsstate service/54 at NYSIF)and Business Manager BillCribbs (33 years, near l.) bothretired in 2003. Mr. Cribbsserved 25 years as manager.Commissioner Robert Hurlbut(24 years, l.), served six yearsas NYSIF chairman andalways took time to thank stafffor their service.

ness Manager Bill Cribbs, Albany Premium Auditor Eugene Clark,Premium Auditor III James Rollo and, probably the greatest duringmy time, Chairman Terry Morris.

– Robert Verhayden, Albany Premium Auditor III

Indelible Marks

Executive Staff

Diversity is more of whatmakes NYSIF special:

Underwriter II Minu Roy(30 years), Deputy

Director and Chief ofStaff Dorothy Carey,

Underwriter SudhabenParikh (30 years) and

Deputy Director ShirleyStark (l.-r.) celebrated

Diwali in 2013.


50

PREMIUM AUDIT - Seated (l.-r.): Corrine Morrison, Mary Curran,Christine Patterson; Standing: Harris Drusin, John DeFazio, MorryHonig, Carl Franklin, Tom Girgis, Wisdom Asamoah, Robert Verhayden

Seated (l.-r.): Marilyn Carretta (Claims), Kerry Kirwan (Customer Service), Miriam Martinez (Investments), Linda Zafonte(ITS); Standing: Armin Holdorf (Field Services), Jeff Digman (Internal Controls), Ken Shulman (Internal Audit), JohnDeFazio (Premium Audit), Joseph Masi (Disability Benefits), George Tidona (DCI), Sherwin Taylor (Underwriting),Joseph Mullen (Administration), Richard Morrison (Policyholder Services), Reuben Epstein (Actuarial)

Department Heads

2014

ACTUARIAL - Seated (l.-r.): John Crotty, Donna Femenella, ShariLerner; Standing Edward Raguso, Bhikhabhai Patel, Lewis Berman,Erik Samarija,Carey Simmons, Joshua Carlsen

ADMINISTRATION - Seated (l.-r.): Victoria DeJesus, Susan Lefkowitz,Daisy Soto; Standing: Heather Woolfolk, Alyce Siegel, Denise Miller,John Murdaugh, Carol Filkins, Gail Bussman, Patricia Carroll

CLAIMS - Seated (l.-r.): Lorraine Mirabella, Michele Armato, TracieWang; Standing: Karen Anderson, Charles Tedaldi, Karen Yu, JudyMostowitz, Suzan Kornbluth, Alfred Lagstrom, Lisa Gombas, Ryan McGrath, Vivian Griepenburg


51

Senior Staff 2014

FIELD SERVICES - Seated (l.-r.): Lynn Sklamberg, Eugene McCarthy,Patricia Ryan; Standing: Gary Dombroff, John McCarthy, ArminHoldorf, Alvin Cooley, Shelford John, Norman Bumgardner

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES - Seated (l.-r.): David F.Moses, Lori Hitchcock, Slawomir Wysocky; Standing: Jean E. Alphee,Chris Glorius, Ashraf Elsayed, David Kroening, Ron G. Dawson

INVESTMENTS (l.-r.):Bernie Sonenberg, DavidLau, John O'Donnell, MaryRumberg, Wayne Wong, LisaDevlin, Jonathan Stephens,Joseph Sayegh, WenStephens; absent from photo:Harold Bachman, MiriamLegrand, Sam Worrell

UNDERWRITING - Seated (l.-r.): Ophelia Ma, RoslynArchibald, Harsha Bhatt, NancyScalzo, Nancy Loy, DeniseCole; Standing: Gino Carlay,Benyam Haile, Ming-SunChung, Kishan Jethnandani,Joseph Trombello, ZhannaManzon, Daryl Bowen, PhyllisMartin, John Parinello, CarlosMcKenzie, Ana Collado, JamesKennedy, Lisa Miceli


The New York Claims Associa-tion (NYCA) recognizes an in-dustry leader each year with itsExcellence in Service Award,having honored several NYSIFmanagers including EdwardHiller (top) in 2008 and ThomasGleason (bottom) in 2009. In a30-year NYSIF career, Mr.Hiller became claims director in2000, serving until his retire-ment in 2012, and was chieflyresponsible for the Fund’s tran-sition to paperless claims files.Mr. Gleason joined NYSIF in2007 as deputy executive direc-tor in a career spanning 37years in the industry, includingexecutive director of the Work-ers’ Comp. Board. NYCA beganin 1914 to foster professionalethics and education in the fieldof insurance claims.

52

Senior Staff 2014

Herbert Jacobs (53 years), Catherine Taverna (37 years),Vincent Troianiello (33 years). Each served as director ofUnderwriting during their long careers.

Flashback

I started working for SIF – as it was called back then –on April 9, 1981. I started in Credit & Collections as a clerk. A timebefore computers, we only had two Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) ma-chines for about 40 people. CRTs had very limited information: thepolicyholder’s name, address and balance due. This was also way be-fore our monthly statements were created. Those days, we had Dun-ning notices, trial balances and Statements of Account that werecreated manually. We accepted cash payments and policyholderscame to our office to conduct business. There wasn’t a need for vis-itor passes or security guards.The décor was green. Desks, file cabinets, baskets, floors, every-

thing. Renovations brought about fake wood laminate on the desktopsand beige spray-paint on the rest of the furniture. We were told thatif we wanted anything painted, just leave it on our desk and, viola,upon arrival on Monday the “in” and “out” baskets, staplers, holepunchers, garbage cans and chairs were all painted. But, the floor re-mained green.

Lessons

FINANCE - Photo left, seated (l.-r.): Lisa Li, Mary Ellen Martin, Nancy Misener; Standing: Allan Simpson, Jeff Epstein, Christopher Rampe,Nathan Ehrenreich; Photo right, seated (l.-r.): Nancy Reuss, Fadia Ghobrial, Sharon DeMars; Standing: Sean O’Brien, Stanley Duda,Matthew Smith, James Heffernan

There was paper and folders everywhere, phones ringing, peopletalking, working. There were no computers or Internet. You used aphone, your brain, manuals, memos and your State Fund buddieswhen you had to figure something out. NYSIF taught me about beinga family, working side-by-side, laughing, crying, celebrating. The peo-ple were great. I was very young when I started and each one of themtaught me something about SIF and life.

– Patricia O'Keefe, Statewide Services Underwriter


In 1952, Ray Green, (nearl. with Cecilia Norat)joined NYSIF as a clerk outof law school. He retired 44years later as one ofNYSIF’s longest servinggeneral attorneys duringwhich time he headed theLegal Department for 16years. Upon his retirement,congratulatory letters andaccolades came from alliesand adversaries alike,including this from one of

the latter: “If I had to name the top five individuals in the insurance/legalindustry, as to knowledge, integrity and decency... you would for certainbe in that group.”

53

In August 1980, I started as a claims examiner. The Buffalo of-fice was located at 161 Delaware Avenue, a 10,000 square footbuilding, half of which was occupied by a dentist’s office. The Fundwas heavily dependent on paper. Mail was received daily, num-bered and moved to the appropriate claim file, then to the appro-priate case handler for review. No payment could be made withoutthe paper folder. Examiners were entirely reliant on clerical staffto insure they received the most current report in a timely manner. Claims folders were imprinted with numbers in our home office,

and each day we received a shipment of new claims folders. If apayment had to be made prior to receiving a folder a “temp folder”was created. To make a timely first payment it was inevitable thatthe claims examiner would need to make a temp folder. Each ex-aminer also had a large accordion-type folder called a SuspenseFile, a repository of all documents received on claims that had notbeen indexed. Documents were maintained in alphabetical order.

To make a payment, the claims examiner needed to fill out apaper voucher that, once approved by Audit &Review, was sentovernight to our home office to be printed and mailed. Claims taskswere divided. Claims examiners made first C-6 payments, filed C-9s and C-7 controversies. The senior clerk made all continuing pay-ments and awards. The bill payer paid medical providers and filedA-1 objections. The unit hearing representative was also the unitsupervisor. There was only one associate examiner for the office.The entire office had five phone lines. Each phone had five light

buttons. If you needed to make a call, you waited until there was anopen line. In our 5,000 square feet, we had over 60 employees, nocubicles. Desks were abutted next to one another in rows, one afteranother. Smoking was allowed. In 1982, we doubled our office sizeby taking over the space previously occupied by the dentist. A mod-ern phone system gave each examiner a phone with a direct number. The department started using computer terminals in 1990 with

the introduction of the CompPay System. There was no need forpaper vouchers to pay claimants’ lost time. MedPay followed twoyears later, putting an end to paper vouchers. In 1999, CHS elim-inated dependence on the paper file. Claims’ workflow changedto its current cradle-to-grave configuration in 2001, with the in-ception of the claims service representative (CSR) position.

– Edward Fries, Buffalo Claims Manager

Paper Trail

Paper, paper everywhere; NYSIF office, circa 1990

LEGAL - Seated (l.-r.): Melissa Saren, Patricia Barry, Lynn Goodman,Michael Coyle; Standing: Howard Feldman, Peter Cusick, James Fiedler,Jeffrey Ritter, Daniel Becker, Abib Tejan Conteh, Marc Silver, Mike Miliano

Flashback

A department fixture for 54 years, Legal Appeals Secretary Evelyn Josephretired from NYSIF in 2003. On her 50th anniversary with the Fund, in acareer that began in 1948, she was joined by (from left) Mr. Green’s suc-cessor James O’Connor, Chairman Terry Morris and Executive DirectorNeal Conolly.


54

Seated (l.-r.): Lisa Ellsworth (Rochester), Catherin Carillo (Suffolk), Patti Albert (Syracuse), Lorna Morris (Bklyn/SI);Standing: Assistant Director of Business Operations Joseph Nolte, Ron Reed (Buffalo), Tom Racko (Binghamton),John Zenkewich (Upper Manhattan), Augusto Bortoloni (Albany), Michael Rachek (Bx/Queens), Les Javorsky (LowerManhattan), Cliff Meister (Nassau), Carl Heitner (White Plains), Director of Business Operations John Massetti

2014

I began at NYSIF on July 19, 1982, shortly after graduatingfrom high school. Eugene McCaffrey was the upstate field serv-ices supervisor in the Albany office at that time. Betty Kirchhoffserved as underwriting supervisor and Vera Bates and CarolRyan were the underwriters.We had one computer used only by underwriters and super-

visors to view policy statements. We had old, 3x5 index cardfile cabinets. Field reps telephoned the office twice a day. In theold days of no cell phones, they called from the road, whereverthey could find pay phones. They would let me know in whichcounty or city they were working. I kept a log in the old, reddiary books, noting the rep’s name, county and time of call. Re-ports were written by hand daily. All forms used by these repscame with carbon paper. I remember often trying to find extracarbon paper for them to complete their daily reports and let-ters.Through the years, I’ve seen many changes in customer serv-

ice. I had the opportunity to be a part of training in telephoneetiquette. NYSIF introduced workplace safety training videos ontopics ranging from slips, trips and falls to bloodbornepathogens. I also remember Mr. Lifty, a wood model used fortraining workers to lift properly.I’m amazed at all the experience I’ve gained working here.

I’ve learned to have a sense of humor to get through the difficultdays, to be calm and patient, and to help my NYSIF family, toolsI use when I come home to my own family.

– Michele LaFortune, Albany Asst. Claims Services Rep

Carbon Copies

ALBANY (l.-r.): Tom Gavin, Betsy Crawford, Chris Rattazzi, Nancy Wood,Robert Kinkead, Tom Phillips, Julie Turgeon, Judy Bellinger, John McCann

BROOKLYN/STATEN ISLAND - Seated (l.-r.): Sasikala Vridhachalam,Pauline Josephs, Santy Thalappillil; Standing: Minu Roy, Elo Onwujekwe,Samindra Sil, Douglas van Putten, Charles Holodak, Chermayne Campbell,Shenqi Liu, Ye Xu, Aeon Mitchell, Lee Lockwood, Linda Watson

Business Managers


55

Senior Staff 2014

BINGHAMTON (l.-r.): Anthony Miller, Richard Libous, Thomas Strazik, JamesFehrer, Joseph Pavlovich, Tina Christiano, Amy Reynolds, Robert Tronovitch,Robert Hubbard

BRONX/QUEENS - Seated (l.-r.): Sadhna Gujral, Doris Lewis, LorraineHope-Thompson; Standing: Ken Cho, Lynda Laurent, Shanette Welch,Anita Booker, Minerva Rivera, Samuel Obeng-Ahwireng

BUFFALO - Seated (l.-r.): Renee Ferbet, Kathleen Ward, KristineEdbauer, Kathy Puzan; Standing: Joseph Kielb, Rocco Brindisi,Ronald Carey, Edward Fries, Ralph Visano

LOWER MANHATTAN - Seated (l.-r.): Patricia Braswell, Helen Roberts,Supty Haldar, Standing: Louis Vassallo, Denham Spence, Narissa Riviere,Ken Joe, Hal Isak

UPPER MANHATTAN - Seated (l.-r.): Harpreet Kaur, Shannon Harvey,Denise Hunte; Standing: Arif Malik, Leonard Ogontz, Aniyan Panavelil,Robert Arnold, Rita Fenton, David Tooker, Sase Misir, David Sweeney

SYRACUSE (l.-r.): Nancy Snyder, Susan Marris, Kathleen DePasquale,Deborah Yager, Daniel Hanley, Michelle VanCamp, Deborah Justian,Steve Earley, Maureen McNamara-Wood, David VanCamp, SuellenLeonik


56

Senior Staff 2014

NASSAU (l.-r.): Judi Westenberger,Eric Parsons, George Moongamakal,William Carillo, Janet McNamara,Flower Jacob, Mary Chirayath,Larry Katzman, Annette Duffy, BarryGreen, Pat Fippinger, Steve Jacobs,Jane Ehlers, Akm Ahmed

SUFFOLK (l.-r.): Richard Shelley, Catherin Carillo, Joseph Montalbano, JanetKatz, Andrew Schwartz, Sapna Lalwani, Prashant Singapura, Diane Strong,Charles McKay, Gerald Howell.

WHITE PLAINS (l.-r.): Thomas Eng,Murray Shore, Shirley Audige Barnette,Karen Hart, Trevor Jackson, AdeleAllen, Joseph Cimino Jr., Kelly O'Neill,Chacko Varughese, Haresh Modi,Arnold Fortune

ROCHESTER - Seated (l.-r.): Susan Roy, Christina Parker; Stand-ing: Nancy Sweeney, Diann Jones, David Lane, Dan Barber,Joseph DeMaria, Beth Taylor-Stern, Lynn Baxter, Rudolph Klash


57

When I first began my career at NYSIF as a claims examiner on July26, 1982, there were piles of paper files everywhere. The volume ofnew claims and policies was so high, training classes for dozens ofnew claims examiners formed continuously. On the claims side, weused to handwrite payment vouchers on various colored cards (bluefor initial payment, salmon for continuing payment, etc.). We counteddays, weeks, months and years on perpetual calendars and manuallyfiled all forms and letters to our stakeholders. We became “paperless”in 2001 when Claims Director Ed Hiller made Executive Director NealConolly’s vision a reality. Mr. Hiller called the established target date“Ground Zero,” not knowing what was to come.It would prove to be perfect timing in the aftermath of 9/11. Our pa-

perless environment enabled NYSIF to continue transactions followingthe terrorist attack without interruption. I remember finding a letteramidst thousands of pieces of mail routed from 199 Church Street toour Melville office. It was from a husband and wife in Arizona who em-pathized with New Yorkers and expected a delay in their claimant benefitsin the wake of the tragedy. To their surprise, the check appeared in theirmailbox as scheduled, despite the devastation to lower Manhattan. I am proud to be a NYSIF employee, having the opportunity to lead

the Suffolk office for the past four years and working with the mostdedicated individuals in the industry. We’ve come a long way sincehandwritten vouchers.

– Catherin Carillo, Suffolk Business Manager

Vouching for NYSIF

NYSIF employees’ contribution to local,national and worldwide charities through the StateEmployees Federated Appeal (SEFA) since 1980.

$2,276,303(Estimate as of 2012-2013 SEFA campaign)

Upholding tradition: Staff (above) awarded for the annual SEFA drive,2013; Below, with canned goods for Hurricane Gilbert relief, 1988.

Sitting (l.-r.): Cosmo Scalesci, Christie Greene, Barbara Davis, Jacqueline Leo, Casey Rauenzahn, Kristen Raup; Standing(middle row): Laura Brothers, Britta Hogue, Kim Brown, Dawn Edwardsen, Melissa Moore, Colleen McClary, Joe Masi;Standing (back row): Tami Popielarz, Tawana Moore, Amy Murauskas, Susan Henriksson, Megan Murphy, Donna Silvera,Mary Gogan, Bruce Allen, Andrew Belden, Robert Haskins, Michael Golden

Disability Benefits

2014


Clockwise from left: Early history for The NYSIF Century came fromThe Spotlight newsletter, published by a long-ago State Fund Club; sev-eral 1930s issues survived intact. It was a predecessor of NYSIF’s latterday Reporter, which printed continuously from 1982 - 2009, beginningunder (l.-r.) Deputy Executive Director Stan Franzcyk, NYSIF’s firstPublic Information Officer Maria Van Hoy and Executive DirectorArnold Kideckel; it continues today in electronic format. Two of itslongest staff stringers, Accounts Payable Clerk Carol Rosenberg (34years, still active)and Actuarial Secre-tary Nancy Ferrante(45 years) had longcareers; NYSIF staff

shared in a 2001 AASCIF communicationsaward (l.-r.) Richard Morrison, CherylKratochvil, Marketing Director Ann Formel,Dennis Incitti, Public Information OfficerBob Lawson, Anne Murdock and AnthonyTranelli.

58

Seated (l.-r.): Paula Koranka, Maria Donato, Regina Garbarino, Customer Service Manager Amy Reynolds, Anthony R.Martone, Loretta Hale, Frances Fortin; Standing: Cheryl Russell, Kathleen Tronovitch, Karen Yannuzzi, Talesha Fike, RyanCole, Kathleen Hanifin, Mary Beth Schofield, Lynn Matthews, Josephine Stepanik, Thomas Tedino, Catherine Kozlowski,Robert Grassi, Sheena Hale, Michelle Wunderlich, Amanda Baronowski, Karen Lavelle, Leslie Briscoe

2014

Flashback

MARKETING, MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS (l.-r.):Emanuel Terrell, Michele Sisak, Lee Harris, Gayle Fullerton,Linda Grant, John Mesagno, Guillermo Blanco

CUSTOMER SERVICE (l.-r.): Lori Kodadar, BetsyMcCormack, Lisa Hanifan, Jodie Nowak

Customer Service Call Center


59

Page One, last Reporter of the 20th Century.


We asked staff for 100 reasons. Here are some responses.

One claimant commented: Whether the accident is one dayold or over 20 years old, you can expect to receive courteous,efficient and caring treatment.

– Theresa Ramos, RN, Suffolk Medical Care Rep

Through the storms of life (Irene, Sandy and Lee) andthrough the disasters that befall us (9/11) NYSIF is there –for its policyholders and claimants – with reliable, consistentand professional service.

– Michele T. Sisak, NYC Associate Public Info Specialist

We are the original and still the best.– Timothy Haefner, Buffalo Claims Services Rep

At the time I was offered this position, I was also offered aposition closer to home. During the interview process, I

was quite taken by the professionalism and friendliness ofthe staff. I had a good feeling about working here... I am

very pleased to know I made the right decision.

– Linda Yahm, Personnel

It's about hard working people and protecting their welfare.– Patricia O'Keefe, Statewide Services Underwriter

As a NYSIF employee, aformer policyholder and aclaimant, I have been on bothsides of the fence and can con-fidently say that during anycritical point in each capacityNYSIF came through. In myexperience, NYSIF has themost informative staff. NYSIFhas been and always will be thebest carrier for workers’ com-pensation and disability bene-fits insurance.

– JoAnn Deal, Suffolk ClaimsInvestigator

We work to build good rela-tionships with our policyhold-ers and their valued employees.

– Tom McKinney, RochesterPolicyholder Services Rep

It's very easy for assureds andclaimants to speak directly

with a live person.

– Ann Smith, Disability Claims

NYSIF’s excellence willcontinue with technological ad-vances for future generations.

– Roy Lester, Statewide Serv-ices Sr. Underwriting Clerk

Because we care!– Lorna Morris, Brooklyn/Staten Island Business Manager

By giving businesses a competitive choice among multiplecarriers in which to place their workers' compensation cov-erage, we realize an important part of our mission. We suc-ceed whether or not we secure a customer's business.

– Jim McLaughlin, Buffalo Field Services Rep

Nobody knows workers' compensation and disabilitybenefits insurance better. It's not a side business; it's ouronly focus.

– Bruce Allen, Disability Claims

Unlike commercial carriers,NYSIF does not cancel policiesbecause we no longer wish tocover a particular business orclassification code. NYSIF is inthe business of workers' com-pensation and disability bene-fits insurance exclusively withno other line of insurance. Wehave been and will always behere for all our customers.

– Tony Prokopowicz, WhitePlains Underwriter

NYSIF has your back.– Jackie Mae McKune, Brook-

lyn/SI Keyboard Specialist

Certified RNs as medical carerepresentatives... Caring case-workers... Knowledgeable andhard working hearing represen-tatives... Longevity, stability,experience... 100 years and stillgoing...We STARTED the busi-ness!

– Thomas Kling, BuffaloKeyboard Specialist

60

I started work with NYS at the Dept. of Labor Employment Serv-ice in 1977. Due to a layoff, I was hired at NYSIF in October 1984.Between my hire date and start date I broke my leg playing foot-ball. My first day at NYSIF on Church Street required me to travelthrough the NYC subway system, with my crutches, on the No. 7train from Main Street, Flushing, to Church Street.I had no prior experience with workers’ compensation and was-

n’t even sure what it was. When I arrived at NYSIF I was greetedwith puzzled looks as they thought I was a claimant who made itup to the office. I waited while a group of six staff discussed whatto do with me. After some intense discussion I guess they decidedI was a risk to have at work. I pleaded my case, describing what Ijust went through navigating the subway, and I was allowed tostay. I made it to work on my crutches for the entire period of Spe-cial Projects Division training.I then transferred to the Hempstead office. I stayed there for six

years, enduring many cold winters and hot summers. Through itall I worked with some of the greatest people you could ever hopeto work with, who are still good friends.In 1990, I moved to Albany due to a promotion to hearing rep

I have raised my family here and worked with many great peoplethrough the years.All in all, the move to NYSIF in 1984 has been one of the best

things to happen to me in my life. I have many fond memoriesthat will always be with me.

– Frank Saragaglia, Albany Sr. Hearing Rep

Lucky Break

Why Like NYSIF?

100 Reasons


E.P. Chrystie, noted for his charcoal sketches of New York Cityhistorical sites, particularly in lower Manhattan, did this watercolorof NYSIF’s home office at 199 Church Street sometime after its1955 opening. The artist, a World War I veteran, died in 1960,placing this work near the end of his career.


Then... Now... Always TM


The NYSIF Century

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Transcript of The NYSIF Century